LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 

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Shelf ..2>..3„Fi5 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



BOOKS BY 



Hev. Loais Albert Banks, D.D. 



CHRIST AND HIS FRIENDS. 

A Series of 31 Revival Sermons from St. John's Gospel. De- 
livered in Hanson Place M. E. Church, Brooklyn, N. Y., 
January, 1895. i2mo, Cloth, 382 pp., gilt top, $1.50. 

I have examined the copy of" Christ and His Friends "with great in- 
terest, and am delighted to find the fresh and original style in which the 
author portrays the great awakening truths of the Gospel. That John's 
Gospel should be so rich in material for revival sermons has never occurred to 
me before. I wish for it a very wide circulation. — Bishop John F, Hurst 
D.D., LL.D. 

THE SALOON-KEEPER'S LEDGER. 

A Series of Temperance Revival Discourses. Introduction by 
Theodore L. Cuyler, D.D. i2mo, Cloth, 129 pp., 75 cents. 

Contents: Item No. 1. — The Saloon Debtor to Disease. Item No. 2. — 
The Saloon Debtor to Private and Social Immorality. Item No. 3. — The 
Saloon Debtor to Ruined Homes. Item No. 4. — The Saloon Debtor to Pau- 
perized Labor. Item No. 5. — The Saloon Debtor to Lawlessness and Crime. 
Item No. 6. — The Saloon Debtor to Political Corruption. How to Settle the 
Saloon Account. 

THE CHRIST DREAM. 

i2mo, Cloth, 275 pp., $1.20. 

A series of twenty-four sermons in which illustrations of the Christ ideal 
are thrown upon the canvas, showing here and there individuals who have 
risen above the selfish and measure up to the Christ dream. In tone it is 
optimistic and sees the bright side of life. 

WHITE SLAVES ; or, The Oppression of the Worthy Poor. 

Fifty Illustrations. i2mo, Cloth, 327 pp., $1.50. 

The Rev. Dr. Banks has made a personal and searching investigation 
into the homes of the poorer classes, and in the " White Slaves" the results 
are given. The work is illustrated from photographs taken by the author; 
and the story told by pen and camera is startling. It should be borne in 
mind that the author's visits were made to the homes of the worthy poor, 
who are willing to work hard for subsistence, and not to the homes of the 
criminal and vicious. 

The Boston Advertiser says: "Such things as Dr. Banks has been de- 
scribing of late cannot exist without endangering the physical, political, and 
moral health of rich and poor, virtuous and vicious. . . . Whatever 
opinions any one may form regarding Dr. Banks' opinions, no one can fairly 
withhold a tribute to him for the painstaking energy with which he has 
worked to get his facts at first hand. There ought not to be any hesitancy 
in thanking him for compelling the public to glance, even if it will not look, 
at certain enormous evils in our midst." 



THE HONEYCOMBS OF LIFE. 

A Series of Sermons. i2mo, Cloth, 397 pp M $1.50. 

Most of the discourses are spiritual honeycombs, means of refreshment 
and illumination by the way. " The Soul's Resources." " Cure for Anxiety," 
"At the Beautiful Gate," " The Pilgrimage of Faith," and " Wells in the 
Valley of Baca," are among his themes. The volume is well laden with 
evangelical truth and breathes a holy inspiration. This volume also includes 
Dr. Banks's Memorial tribute to Lucy Stone and his powerful sermon in re- 
gard to the Chinese in America, entitled " Our Brother in Yellow." 

REVIVAL QUIVER. 

A Pastor's Record of Four Revival Campaigns. i2mo, Cloth, 
254 pp., $1.50. 

This book is, in some sense, a record of personal experiences in revival 
work. It begins with " Planning for a Revival," followed by " Methods in 
Revival Work." This is followed by brief outlines of some hundred or more 
sermons. They have points to them, and one can readily see that they were 
adapted to the purpose designed. The volume closes with " A Scheme of 
City Evangelization." It seems to us a valuable book, adapted to the wants 
of many a preacher and pastor. 

COMMON FOLKS' RELIGION. 

i2mo, Cloth, 343 pp., $1.50. 

Dr. Banks presents Christ to the "common people," and preaches to 
every-day folk the glorious every-day truths of the Scripture. The sermons 
are original, terse, and timely, full of reference to current topics, and have 
that earnest quality which is particularly needed to move the people for whom 
they were spoken. — Boston Journal. 

THE PEOPLE'S CHRIST. 

A Volume of Sermons and Other Addresses and Papers. 
i2mo, Cloth, 220 pp., $1.25. 

These sermons are excellent specimens of discourses adapted to reach the 
masses. Their manner of presenting Christian truth is striking. They 
abound in all kinds of illustration, and are distinguished by a bright, cheerful 
tone and style, which admirably fit them for making permanent impression. 

— New York Observer. 

HEAVENLY TRADE=WINDS. 

i2mo, Cloth, 351 pp., $1.25. 

From author's preface : "The sermons included in this volume have s 11 
been delivered in the regular course of my ministry in the Hanson Place 
Methodist Episcopal Church, Brooklyn. They have been blessed of God in 
comforting the weary, giving courage to the faint, arousing the indifferent, 
and awakening the sinful. They are given to the printer with an earnest 
prayer that, wherever they go, they may indeed be Heavenly Trade-winds, 
bringing benedictions of spiritual help and blessing." 



FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY, 

44 Fleet Street, LONDON. 11 Richmond Street, W., TORONTO. 

30 Lafayette Place, NEW YORK. 



CHRIST AND THE FISHERMEN. 



(BEPBODUCED FROM A PHOTOGRAPH OF THE 
PAINTING BY EBXST ZIMMEBMAN.) 



THE 

Fisherman and His Friends 



A SERIES OF 
REVIVAL SERMONS 



Rev. LOUIS ALBERT BANKS, D.D. 

Pastor of Hanson Place M. E. Church, Brooklyn, N. Y. 

AUTHOR OF 

'The People's Christ," "White Slaves," "The Revival Quiver, 
"Common Polks' Religion," "The Honeycombs of Life," 
"The Heavenly Trade- Winds," "The Christ 
Dream," "The Saloon-Keeper's Ledger," 
"Christ and His Friends," etc. 



7 r896 I 



NT ^ 

'Vl\ 



FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY 
London and Toronto 
1896 



THE LIBRARY 
OF CONGRESSj 

WASHINGTON! 



*3 



Copyright, 1896, by 
FUNK AND WAGNALLS COMPANY. 

[Registered at Stationers Hall % London^ England.} 



[Printed in the United States.} 



Go 

MY NEIGHBOR AND FRIEND, 

REV. THEODORE L. CUYLER, D.D., 

THAT PRINCE OF GOSPEL FISHERMEN, 
THIS VOLUME 
IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED 
BY THE AUTHOR. 



AUTHOR'S PREFACE. 



The sermons in this volume were delivered in 
Hanson Place Methodist Episcopal Church, Brook- 
lyn, N. Y., during the month of January, 1896, in 
a series of revival meetings. The themes were se- 
lected long before, illustrations gathered as the 
months went by, more especial thought and atten- 
tion given to plan and outline as the time drew 
near, but each sermon was finally constructed on 
the day of delivery. They are practically steno- 
graphic reports of the discourses as delivered from 
day to day. The blessing of God was upon them 
in their delivery, and a large number of men and 
women were persuaded, by them to accept Christ as 
their Savior. The welcome given to " Christ and 
His Friends," both in this country and in England, 
has been so hearty and encouraging, that I send 
out this companion volume with the hope and 
prayer that in suggestion and illustrative material 



vi 



AUTHORS PREFACE. 



it may be still more valuable to earnest Christian 
workers, who, in the Bible-class of the Sunday- 
school or in the pulpit, are seeking to win souls to 
the Master. To every Gospel fisherman the wide 
world round into whose hand this book may come, 
I extend a brother's greeting. 

Louis Albert Banks. 

Brooklyn, March 7th, 1896. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Christ's Prayer for the Church, 1 

Peter's Blundering Sword, 14 

The Crisis in Peter's Life, 29 

The Fate of Judas Iscajuot, 39 

Christ Before Pilate, 53 

Voices from the Cross, 65 

The Three Marys Beside the Cross, . . .76 
Joseph and Nicodemus at the Burial of Jesus, . 87 
The Power of the Risen Christ, . . . .97 
Thomas, the Doubter, Reclaimed, . . . .111 

Simon Peter, the Fisherman, 122 

Swimming for Christ, 135 

A Breakfast with Jesus, 146 

The Gift of Power, 161 

Witnesses for Christ, 172 

The Ascension of Jesus, 181 

The Symbols of the Spirit, . . . . .195 
Pricked Hearts and their Cure, . . . .206 



viii CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Peter, John, and a Cripple, 217 

Turning Over a New Leaf, 226 

The One Saving Name, 238 

Christianity, a Religion op Joy, .... 249 
Philip and the First Gospel Wagon, . . .261 
^Eneas, a Man who was Healed, . . . .271 
Cornelius, the Truth Seeker, . . - . . . 279 
The Gold Mine of Humanity, ...... 289 

The Conversion of a Family, 304 

Herod, the King who was Worm-eaten, . . .313 

A Light in the Prison Cell, 324 

The Living Hope, . 335 

The Dried-up Springs of Life, 345 

Peter's Confidence in Old Age, .... 354 



THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



CHRIST'S PRAYER FOR THE CHURCH. 

" I pray not that thou shouldest take them from the 
world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil 
one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the 
world. Sanctify them in the truth : thy word is truth. 
As thou didst send me into the world, even so sent I them 
into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that 
they themselves also may be sanctified in truth. Neither 
for these only do I pray, but for them also that believe on 
me through their word." — John xvii. 15-20 {Revised Ver- 
sion) . 

Jesus Christ believed in prayer. Through- 
out the record of his ministry we find frequent 
references to his separating himself from his dis- 
ciples and spending sometimes an entire night 
alone on the mountain-side in prayer to God. He 
sometimes prayed in public when he was about to 
perform miracles. He taught his disciples to 
pray, and has left on record for us that sweet and 
simple petition, simple enough for a little child, 
but deep and comprehensive enough to voice the 
1 



2 



THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



cry of the greatest man, which we call our Lord's 
Prayer. 

This prayer for his disciples, just before his sac- 
rifice of himself on the cross as a sin-offering for 
the world, is of wonderful significance and ought 
to be of the deepest interest to every human soul. 
The example of Christ in regard to prayer should 
be constantly emphasized in order to give ourselves 
a proper estimate of its supreme importance. A 
Christian life can not be lived without sincere and 
frequent prayer. And if there are those present 
who have grown cold and indifferent in their 
Christian life, and no longer enjoy, as they once 
did, the gladness of the assurance that they are the 
forgiven and accepted children of God, I doubt not 
they are admitting, as I speak, that their backsli- 
ding began by failing to keep up the frequency and 
earnestness of their prayers to God. I repeat it, 
that a Christian life is impossible without prayer. 
As James Montgomery, the sweet hymnist, sings, — 

"Prayer is the contrite sinner's voice, 
Returning from his ways ; 
While angels in their songs rejoice 
And cry, 'Behold he prays !' 

"Prayer is the Christian's vital breath, 
The Christian's native air, 
His watchword at the gates of death ; 
He enters heaven with prayer." 



CHRIST'S PRAYER FOR THE CHURCH. 3 

It is the gateway into the Christian armory, where 
we are clothed upon with power from on high. 

E. P. Allen relates the story of a veteran mis- 
sionary who, on returning to China after a long 
absence from the field, received, on the very day 
of his return, a visit from a former convert. The 
Chinese Christian brought with him six country- 
men who had been led to Christ out of the horrible 
filth and degradation of the opium habit. " What 
remedy did you use?" asked the rejoicing mis- 
sionary. The Chinaman's only answer was to 
point significantly to his knees ! Ah ! he had 
prayed for them ; he had induced them to pray for 
themselves; and when one of these men came to 
him saying, in despairing tones, that he had 
prayed, but it had done him no good, this man of 
faith sent him back to his knees. "Pray again," 
he said. And when he came the second time he 
sent him back to his knees; and so when he came 
the third time, and many more times. And as a 
result, here these six men were, clean and sound 
in body and mind, the cruel chains broken, and 
the new songs of joy and praise to God upon their 
lips. Let us learn this great lesson at the begin- 
ning of our special campaign for the salvation of 
lost souls. Our greatest resource is that we are 
invited to come boldly to the Mercy Seat, and find 
strength to help in every time of need. 



4 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

In the Scripture we are studying we find sug- 
gested the separating power of knowledge. The 
Savior says that because he has given the disci- 
ples his word, the result has been to separate them 
from the world and bring them into a new fellow- 
ship of their own. "We have revealed here the ab- 
solute necessity of the Christian church, and that 
it is the part of wisdom for one entering upon the 
Christian life to unite himself as closely as possible 
in fellowship with others who love Christ. This is 
absolutely necessary in order to have a strong, 
growing life. Very often we are asked the ques- 
tion, "Can't I live a Christian out of the church?" 
The editor of The Outlook answers this very perti- 
nently when he says that an individual may live a 
Christian outside the church " just as easily as you 
can make a fire with one stick." Anybody that 
has observed a good wood fire knows that it takes 
several sticks in order to have much heat. And 
though the sticks may be blazing splendidly, if 
you take them away from each other and lay them 
out singly on the ground the flames die down al- 
most at once. They will smoke for a little while, 
but will soon be black and dead. I have known a 
good many people who have joined the church and 
have failed to live bright Christian lives; but I 
can testify to the faithfulness of the great major- 
ity of those who, after having found the Lord 



CHRIST'S PRAYER FOR THE CHURCH. 5 

Jesus, have come into the fellowship of the Chris- 
tian church. On the other hand, I do not recall 
one out of all the men and women I have known 
who have been happily converted to Christ and 
for various reasons remained out of the church 
(and I have, in the course of the last twenty years 
of my ministry, known a large number of such 
persons), who through any prolonged period of 
time has continued to be a bright and shining 
light for Jesus Christ. God has made us to need 
congenial human fellowship, and we cannot dis- 
obey that law without suffering the penalty. 

A touching little story is told of the child-queen 
of Holland, who is being brought up according to 
the strict etiquette of the court, which forbids her 
playing with other children. She is reported to 
have said to her wax doll one day, " If you are so 
naughty, I shall make you into a princess, and 
then you won't have any other little children to 
play with." 

A New York newspaper man relates an incident 
similar to this in its pathetic suggestiveness : A 
little blind boy who had been rescued from the 
most wretched surroundings and placed in a 
wisely managed institution, was told by the man- 
ager that he was to have a vacation. "I don't 
want no vacation," said the poor little chap; "I 
ain't got no folks; I don't want to go away from 



6 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



here on no vacation ; please let me stay here all 
the time !" When he was finally assured that he 
was not to be returned to the miserable place 
whence he had been taken, but was to have for a 
few weeks a pleasant home in the country, pro- 
vided for by the good woman with the soft, beau- 
tiful voice, which had seemed to him that of a 
rsecuing angel, his foreboding changed to delight. 
The same boy greeted his good angel, on the occa- 
sion of her first visit to him in the institution, with 
the glad announcement, " I've found me mate" — 
the mate being a much larger boy, also blind, with 
whom he was walking. Their arms were around 
each other's necks in that boyish enthusiasm of 
affection which is more than brotherly, and that 
little neglected boy had, at last, gaiued a glimpse 
of the joy without which even those who have the 
boon of sight are poor indeed. 

Our Christian lives are no exception to this great 
law, and if we are wise we will make much of the 
Christian fellowship of the church. Let us culti- 
vate more and more within ourselves and in the 
hearts of our brethren a taste for conversation con- 
cerning spiritual things, and in that way we shall 
add fuel to the heavenly flame which shall make 
the church like " a city that is set upon a hill, that 
can not be hid." 

In this prayer of Christ strong emphasis is 



CHRIST'S PRAYER FOR THE CHURCH 7 

laid on the fact that Christ is our example, and 
that our mission is indissolubly bound up with 
his. We are each to be what Christ would be if 
he were in our place. As Dr. Greer of New York 
said to some young preachers not long since : " It 
is not enough that you preach Jesus Christ. You 
must be, each in his place and according to his 
ability, a Jesus Christ." And that is not appli- 
cable to preachers only, but to every one who has 
found in Jesus a divine Savior from his sins. 
Let us thank God we have so high and glorious 
an ideal. Let nobody say the ideal is too high. 
It is the very glory of our Christianity that it puts 
before us this sublime ideal and inspires poor hu- 
man hearts, whose courage has been broken by sin, 
to struggle after it in brave and heroic effort. 

The story is told that once during the War of 
the Rebellion, as a charge was being made, an 
officer shouted to a standard-bearer who was 
bravely pushing forward to plant his colors on the 
enemy's breastworks, " Bring back the flag to the 
men!" "No," he responded, "bring up the men 
to the flag!" That's what we are to do by the 
grace of God. We must bring the army of Christ 
up to the flag of our glorious Leader ! 

How splendid is this statement of Christ that for 
the sake of his disciples he sanctified himself. 
Wonderful statement! Rich, he became poor, 



8 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

that he might know how to sympathize with poor 
men; honored and worshiped, he became lowly, 
and was spit upon and treated with contempt, that 
he might know how to sympathize with those who 
are scorned; he hungered and thirsted, and was 
lonely, and had not where to lay his head, in order 
that he might know how to sympathize with the 
outcast; he was forsaken by his friends, and de- 
nied, that he might know how to sympathize with 
the broken-hearted ; he died a cruel death on the 
cross and went down into the grave that he might 
know how to sympathize with those who are sick 
and dying. The old proverb says, "A fellow- 
feeling makes us wondrous kind." Christ put 
himself in our place, bore our sorrows, and was 
tempted in all points like as we are, that he might 
share with us in all the troubles of life. 

He is our example in this. And we ought to 
learn by all the troubles and difficulties that come 
to us in our lives how to sympathize with others. 
It is wicked for us to brood selfishly over our sor- 
rows. We ought so to trust God as to get divine 
comfort wherewith we ourselves have been com- 
forted of God. Some poet sings: 

"Because of one small, low-laid head, all crowned 
With golden hair, 
Forevermore all fair young brows to me 
A halo wear ; 



CHRIST'S PRAYER FOR THE CHURCH 9 



I kiss them reverently. Alas ! I know 
The pain I bear. 

"Because of dear but close-shut holy eyes 

Of heaven's own blue, 
All little eyes do fill my own with tears — 

Whate'er their hue ; 
And motherly I gaze their innocent 

Clear depths into. 

"Because of little pallid lips, which once 

My name did call, 
No childish voice in vain appeal upon 

My ear doth fall ; 
I count it all my joy their joys to share, 

And sorrows small. 

" Because of little dimpled hands 

Which folded lie, 
All little hands henceforth to me do have 

A pleading cry ; 
I clasp them as they were small wandering birds 

Lured home to fly. 

"Because of little death-cold feet, for earth's 
Rough roads unmeet, 
I'd journey leagues to save from sin or harm 

Such little feet, 
And count the lowliest service done for them 
So sacred — sweet." 



God give us that tender spirit of fellowship and 
brotherhood ! 

I think one of the most pathetic incidents that 



10 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

I have noted for a long time occurred when, a 
few weeks after the sinking of the Elbe, of the 
North German Lloyd line, the Ems, of the same 
line, was passing the spot where the wrecked 
steamer lay. On board the Ems was a passenger 
who lost his wife and three children when the 
Elbe went down. He had requested the captain 
of the Ems to pass slowly by the place where the 
Elbe's masts could be seen above the water. The 
order was given to move slowly, the whole crew 
was called to quarters, flags were hoisted at half- 
mast, officers and crew stood uncovered, and while 
a salute of nine guns was fired, the passenger, with 
tears streaming from his eyes (and indeed every 
eye on shipboard was wet in tearful sympathy 
with him) , cast into the sea a flower- wreath, heav- 
ily weighted with lead. The waves closed over 
the flowers, and the Ems proceeded on her voyage. 

There was something in that story that touched • 
me very deeply. It seemed to me to be specially 
in harmony with the spirit of Christ that the great 
ship, with its commercial treasures and carrying 
hundreds of passengers desirous of rushing for- 
ward in the earnest race of life, should pause to 
show this sympathy and brotherhood to one so 
deeply smitten. Above all else the church of 
Christ must have that spirit. We are surrounded 
by multitudes who are having hard lives. They 



CHRIST'S PRAYER FOR THE CHURCH 11 

are tired and worn; they have sickness and pain; 
they have griefs and heart-breaks; and what we 
need above all else to win them to Christ is the 
spirit of him who with sympathetic face and ten- 
der word went about "doing good." 

A man paused in front of the village doctor's 
house and asked of the small child playing on the 
door-step : " Is your father at home?" 

"No," said the little boy, "he's away." 

" Where do you think I could find him?" 

" Well," he said, with a considering air, "you've 
got to look for some place where people are sick, 
or hurt, or something like that. I don't know 
where he is, but he's helping somewhere." 

And so, my brother, if you want to enjoy the 
fellowship of Jesus Christ, if it is your desire to 
live this new year in the gladness of his constant 
presence, if you wish to walk with him and learn 
of him, to grow in his grace and favor — then you 
must go with him, seeking after the lost. Set 
yourself hard at work helping somewhere — to the 
lifting of somebody's burden, to the sharing of 
somebody's heavy load — and you will soon find 
that Christ is there in loving fellowship with you. 

How tender and precious to each one of us is 
the message conveyed in the last verse of the 
Scripture we are studying: "Neither for these 
only do I pray, but for them also that believe on 



12 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

me through their word." That means you and 
me. It breaks my heart when I think of it — how 
in those last dark hours, when the Savior had so 
much upon his mind and thought (when the mob 
was already gathering to carry him before the 
high priest, and on, by way of Pilate and Herod, 
to the agony of the cross), even then his great 
heart thought about me, and about you, and about 
every one to whom we have the privilege of carry- 
ing this precious word, and prayed for us with 
infinite tenderness and love. 

Oh, there is nothing so faithful in this world as 
sincere love ! A young Englishman came to this 
country during the great gold excitement in Cali- 
fornia in 1849, and became very wealthy by his 
labor and good fortune in the mines. During his 
prosperity he sent a large nugget of gold to Eng- 
land to the woman he loved, and to whom he was 
engaged to be married. But, as often happened in 
the mines, in a few months, in an evil turn of for- 
tune, he lost his wealth, and was reduced to direst 
poverty. He wrote to the lady informing her of 
his change of fortune and releasing her from all 
obligations. But what was his surprise and joy 
to receive, as soon as an answer could come to his 
letter, a gold ring, made of the nugget he had 
sent, engraved with these words: "Entreat me 
not to leave thee." He was not worthy of her if 



CHRIST'S PRAYER FOR THE CHURCH. 13 



that was not worth more to him than all the for- 
tune he had lost. But that, glorious as it was, is 
faint illustration of the faithfulness of love when 
compared with the supreme sacrifice of Jesus 
Christ who, for a race that did not love him, but 
was lost in sin and in defilement, put aside the 
glory of heaven and came down and took our poor 
human life at its worst, and suffered and died to 
ransom us from sin and from eternal night. 

How faithful he has been to us since we have 
given our hearts to him ! Not one of us can, for a 
moment, claim that he has ever deserted us. We 
may have been unfaithful to him. Possibly you 
have admitted into your heart such evil guests 
that he could no longer abide there; but he has 
never deserted you; and though he has been 
driven out of the guest-chamber of the soul he 
still lingers near, and knocks at the door of your 
heart. Poor backslider, if you will rise and open 
the door to-night, this last night of the old year, 
Christ will come in again, and the new year will 
dawn upon your soul with a flood of heavenly 
glory. 

And you who have never known him, if you 
will open your heart to receive this word, what a 
glorious day-dawn it may be for you ! Your con- 
demnation shall pass away and the light of God's 
reconciled face shall give you peace. 



PETER'S BLUNDERING SWORD. 



"Simon Peter therefore having a sword drew it." — John 
xviii. 10 {Revised Version). 

The picture suggested by the text is very dra- 
matic. It is in the darkness of the midnight, and 
Judas has just led his band of men and officers 
with their lanterns and torches and weapons into 
the Garden of Gethsemane, seeking his Master 
whom he has betrayed. When they come to 
where Jesus is, he, standing there in composure, 
inquires, "Whom seek ye?" They answer him, 
"Jesus of Nazareth." The Lord quietly answers, 
"I am he." They are at first startled and 
alarmed, and fall backward in terror before the 
majesty of the man after whom they have been 
seeking. Then, as they gather courage and draw 
near to arrest Jesus, Simon Peter draws his sword 
and, leaping before his Master, thrusts at the first 
enemy that comes in his way; but Jesus rebukes 
him and says: "Put up the sword into the 
sheath : the cup which the Father hath given me, 
shall I not drink it?" 

It was a generous deed on the part of Peter, a 
14 



PETER'S BLUNDERING SWORD. 15 

deed born of his love and devotion to his Master, 
and it is impossible not to admire it. How- 
ever unwise it may be, however futile it may be 
in its results, an exhibition of sincere human 
love taking all risks and all hazards in the expres- 
sion of its devotion is always interesting and im- 
pressive. It is impossible to think of poor Rispah 
watching her sons who were hanged on that far- 
away hill-top so long ago, as all through the long 
summer time she keeps the birds off their poor 
bodies by day, and in her mad and reckless devo- 
tion frightens away the wild beasts by night, so 
that until the rain came in the autumn neither by 
day nor by night is the precious clay disturbed, 
without admiration and reverence for the mother- 
love expressed in the deed. Who can listen un- 
moved to David's cry over his dead son Absalom, 
even though he have the greatest contempt for 
that traitorous and wicked young man? There 
is something sublime in David's forgetfulness 
of all Absalom's sins against him, and our hearts 
are heavy with him as we hear him cry, " O my 
son Absalom ! my son, my son Absalom ! Would 
God I had died for thee, Absalom, my son, 
my son!" We know that his grief is useless 
and that his love is like water poured upon the 
ground, but it stirs our hearts, nevertheless. 
And so in this case of Peter and his blundering 



16 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FBIENDS. 

sword, we can not help but admire him and think 
better of him for the deed, the while our reason 
tells us that the cause of Jesus Christ can never 
be advanced by the weapons of worldly warfare. 
All will admit to-day that this is true of attempts 
by a sword like Peter's; but we need to have the 
emphasis put upon the fact that efforts to push 
forward Christianity by means of wealth, or cul- 
ture, or social position, or political influence, taken 
by themselves, are as blundering and useless and 
as certain to be futile as the sword of Simon 
Peter. The cause of true Christianity is often 
really retarded because the church is burdened 
down by material and worldly things which might 
be excellent as helps but are certain to be deadly 
weights when they are depended upon as masters 
or as essential motive power. 

Somebody has recently written a fable telling 
how once, in a jungle in India, there was a great 
elephant which was out walking one day, when a 
little fly accosted him. " Kind elephant," said the 
fly, " I am little, and you are very big. Will you 
not give me a ride?" "With pleasure," said the 
elephant, and strode on, with the fly upon his back. 
He had not gone much further until he came 
upon a mouse. "Kind elephant," begged the 
mouse, "I am not much bigger than that fly. 
Won't you give me a ride too?" "With pleas- 



PETER'S BLUNDERING SWORD. 17 



ure," answered the obliging elephant, and he let 
the mouse climb upon his back. A short distance 
further the elephant met a turtle, who politely 
said, " Kind elephant, I am sure you will be glad 
to lend your strength to one so small as I, who gets 
over the ground by himself so slowly." "With 
pleasure," the elephant started to say, but changed 
the sentence to, "You are very welcome." In the 
same way, by one pretext or another, the great 
beast gave riding-room to a boa-constrictor, a wolf, 
and a bear. Thus burdened, the elephant was 
greeted by a tiger, who, leaping from a thicket, 
preferred the same request the other animals had 
set forth. "Kind elephant, you are big, and I 
am so much smaller. Surely you will give me a 
lift." "Unfortunately," replied the elephant, "I 
already have more than I ought to carry, and can 
scarcely stir a step further." "In that case," 
answered the tiger, " this is precisely the moment 
I have long been waiting for." Whereupon he 
sprang upon the great animal, who, weighted 
down by the beasts upon his back, could do 
nothing in his own defense, and was quickly de- 
stroyed. 

Many a church could well learn a lesson from 

this simple fable. Wealth at the disposal of 

Christlike spirit may help on the cause of Chris- 

tiaoity ; but wealth upon the back of the church, 
2 



18 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



dictating its policy from a worldly standpoint, 
will betray it to the devil as surely as Judas sold 
his Master for thirty pieces of silver. Intellectual 
culture and social position, if they are sincerely 
consecrated to Jesus Christ, may be, and are, great 
and valuable talents for use in the Lord's cause ; 
but in many a church such influences, not being 
so consecrated, serve only to freeze the spiritual 
life to death. Every little while we see the ac- 
count of some vessel that is destroyed by running 
afoul of an iceberg. Such a ship has a better 
chance, however, than a church which undertakes 
to carry an iceberg on board. Some poet aptly 
sings : 

"111 fares the church, to hastening ills a prey, 
Where wealth accumulates and men decay ; 
Bishops and priests may flourish or may fade, — 
A breath can make them as a breath has made, — 
But a working laity, the church's hope and pride, 
When once destroyed, can never be supplied. 

" As some fair female, unadorned and plain, 
Secure to please while youth confirms her reign, 
Slights every charm that dress supplies, 
Nor shares with art the triumph of her eyes ; 
But when those charms are passed— for charms are frail— 
When time advances and when lovers fail, 
She still shines forth, solicitous to bless, 
In all the glaring impotence of dress, — 



PETER'S BLUNDERING SWORD. 19 



" Thus fares the church by luxury betrayed ; 
In heaven's simplest charms at first arrayed ; 
But verging to decline, its splendors rise, 
Its steeples strike, its palaces surprise ; 
While, scourged by famine, from the smiling land 
The mournful member leaves his former band ; 
And while he sinks without one arm to save, 
His church becomes a garden and a grave. " 

Numbers are equally as impotent as wealth or 
culture or position. The story of Gideon illus- 
trates the fact that a cowardly or a selfish horde is 
not so effective as a picked few whose eyes are 
single and hearts true in loyal devotion. 

What, then, are some of the forces which the 
church may depend upon with confidence in its 
attempt to make conquest of the world for Jesus 
Christ? The answers to this question are very 
simple and plain. Our first great weapon is the 
Bible. This is true both for our individual expe- 
rience and as a weapon of warfare in seeking to 
capture others for Christ. A recent writer in one 
of our religious journals relates that once upon a 
time he commenced to backslide. He still had 
something of the love and fear of God in his heart, 
and desired to do his duty; but he felt that his 
spiritual strength was gradually slipping away. 
He no longer took delight in the service of God. 
His private devotions became a burden. He be- 



20 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



came depressed in spirit. Morbid fancies assailed 
his mind. Evil thoughts disturbed his peace. He 
became dead to his duties to others and thought 
only of self. People who had once spoken of him 
as an earnest Christian began to call him a hypo- 
crite. Yet, in spite of all this, he felt the inward 
promptings of the Holy Spirit, and desired to do 
better. One day while arranging his study table 
he came upon the cause of his troubles. His 
Bible was covered with dust. Like a flash it 
came upon him that the reason of his deadness 
was that he had been depriving his soul of its 
proper nourishment, and that his lethargy was 
the result of slow starvation. And as he went 
back to the Bible with a new zest and enthusiasm, 
his hungry soul fed upon the bread of life, and he 
was soon strong again in Christian effort. Per- 
haps there are some that hear me at this time 
who — like one looking into a mirror — see their 
own features in this story of another. If so, I 
pray that your interest in God's Word may be 
renewed. If the keen edge of your interest in the 
spiritual services of the church is wearing off, 
look and see if there be not dust on your Bible. If 
I were sure that every member of this church 
would read, every day this month, one or two chap- 
ters of God's Word, earnestly seeking out the 
heart-searching and spiritual portions, prayer- 



PETER'S BLUNDERING SWORD. 21 



fully trying to seek out God's will, and desiring 
to have their souls fed with the bread from 
heaven, all doubts in my mind of a great spiritual 
revival would be dissipated in a moment. The 
Bible is the one book which must be in constant 
use in any great religious awakening. It alone 
contains the words of eternal life. Men are dying 
in their sins all about us for the lack of having 
emphasized in their thought and affections the 
message which is given so simply and so tenderly 
in the Bible. 

Du Chaillu tells a pathetic story of a poor girl, 
Okondaga, in Central Africa, who was compelled 
to drink poison because she was accused of having 
bewitched a person who had recently died. As 
she was borne along by her furious accusers, the 
cry rang in the traveler's ears, " Chally, Chally ! 
Do not let me die !" But he was powerless and 
could only shed bitter tears. With two other wo- 
men she was taken in a canoe upon one of their 
beautiful rivers, and the fatal cup was placed to 
their lips. Soon they reeled and fell, when they 
were instantly hewn in pieces and were thrown 
into the water. At night the brother of Okon- 
daga stole to the traveler's house in his distress. 
He had been forced to join in the curses that were 
heaped upon his sister. He was compelled to con- 
ceal his grief. Du Chaillu tried to give him com- 



22 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

fort, and spoke to him of God. The poor man 
cried, " Chally ! When you go back to your far 
country, America, let them send men to us poor 
people to teach us from that which you call God's 
mouth." 

We must not fail to send the message from 
" God's mouth" to the poor people in Africa, neither 
must we fail to give the people the message in the 
city of Brooklyn. Scarcely a day passes in these 
great cities but some man or woman — and on some 
days two or three — poor souls weighed down by 
their sins, held in a bondage unbearable and from 
which they know no way of escape, haunted by an 
accusing conscience, take their own lives and die the 
death of the suicide. Oh, the sins and sorrows of 
this great city ! We must carry the people the 
message that is in this blessed Book, that God so 
loved the world that he gave his only begotten 
Son to die upon the Cross, that whosoever believ- 
eth on him might not perish, but have everlastiug 
life. Thank God, the Bible presents to men a 
divine Savior who is able to do for the poor sin- 
ner what no mere man can do ! 

Another sure dependence for the Christian 
church is prayer. And this is always within our 
reach. It is within the reach of the humblest and 
poorest as surely as those who are rich and pow- 
erful. It is within the reach of those who are full 



PETER'S BLUNDERING SWORD. 23 



of business cares, who, as they go about their work, 
can breathe out their heart's petition to God in the 
midst of the noise and bustle of the city, unheard 
by any ear save the compassionate ear of God. 
There are no times and no places where we can not 
pray to God. Nehemiah, standing in the pres- 
ence of the king in the palace, found a way to send 
his petition to heaven asking for access to the 
heart of the monarch, and his prayer was gra- 
ciously answered. I have heard of a young man 
whose custom it was to pray for every member of 
his family and the members of his Sunday-school 
class by name while riding to town in a public 
omnibus ; and a trolley-car can be turned for the 
moment into a church, and become a heavenly 
place in Christ Jesus, as you lift up your heart to 
God. Do you never look up at the telegraph and 
telephone wires along the streets and highways and 
wonder how many messages unknown to you are 
passing along them ; so countless messages may be 
wafted to the throne of God as we go about our 
daily work. 

Another great force upon which we can depend 
is personal Christian experience. On the human 
side this is the mightiest power in convincing men 
of the reality of the Christian religion. A fron- 
tier examining committee was once examining a 
young man for admission into the Methodist min- 



24 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

istry. He was a big, broad-shouldered fellow, 
lacking a good deal in educational qualifications 
but with a heart in proportion to his body. One 
asked him the question, " How do you know that 
Christ is divine?" The young giant looked at the 
examiner for a moment in silence, and then, as 
his eyes filled with tears, he exclaimed: "Why, 
bless you, sir, he saved my soul !" It was another 
way of saying : " I know whom I have believed, 
and am persuaded that he is able to keep that 
which I have committed unto him until that day." 

The historic Christ which you preach men 
may doubt and argue about; but the "Christ in 
you, the hope of glory ;" the Christ that strength- 
ens a man against temptations to strong drink and 
that keeps him sober ; the Christ that makes pro- 
fane lips prayerful ; the Christ that makes the sel- 
fish man generous and self-denying ; the Christ 
that turns anger into love, and supplants greed with 
generosity — the living Christ, incarnate now in 
our human nature, that is the Christ who can 
break down all opposition. 

The great French savant and skeptic, Littre, 
when his daughter was born, said to his wife: 
"My dear, you are a good Christian, bring up 
your daughter in the ways of religion and piety 
which you have always followed; but I must 
exact one condition, and that is that when she is 



PETER'S BLUNDERING SWORD. 25 



fifteen years of age you will bring her to me. I 
will then explain my views to her and she can 
choose for herself." The mother accepted the con- 
dition. Years rolled on, the fifteenth birthday of 
the child soon came, and the mother entered her 
husband's study. "You remember what you said 
to me, and what I promised," she said. "Your 
daughter is fifteen years old to-day. She is now 
ready to listen to you with all the respect and con- 
fidence due to the best of fathers. Shall I bring 
her in?" "Why, certainly," replied Littre. 
" But for what special reason ? To explain to her 
my views? Oh, no, my dear; no, no! You have 
made of her a good, affectionate, simple, straight- 
forward, bright, and happy creature. Happy? 
Yes; that is the word which, in a pure being, de- 
scribes every virtue. And you fancy that I would 
cover all that happiness and purity with my ideas? 
Pshaw ! my ideas are good enough for me ; who can 
say that they would be good for her? Who can 
say that they would not destroy, or at least damage, 
your work? Bring her in so that I can bless you 
in her presence for all that you have done for her, 
and so that she may love you more than ever." 

There is something so divine about a Christian- 
ity incarnated into a human life that it can not be 
denied or gainsaid. 

And, finally, it is the Holy Spirit vitalizing the 



26 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

Bible, quickening and intensifying our prayers, 
glorifying our fellowship with Jesus Christ, woo- 
ing the hearts of those whom we try to win, that 
is to make effective all the agencies which we use 
to bring men from sin to righteousness. If we do 
our work faithfully and well, God will oftentimes 
give it victory where for the moment we see only 
defeat. One raw December night in 1856 there 
had been announced a missionary meeting in Lon- 
don. A Londoner said to the man who was to 
speak : " The night is so black and the rain is com- 
ing down in such torrents that it is impossible to 
have a respectable audience. Is it wortn while to 
hold the meeting to-night, do you think?" "Per- 
haps not," answered the other 3 doubtfully; "but 
I do not like to shirk my work, and as it was an- 
nounced, some one might come." "Come on, 
then," said the first speaker; "I suppose we can 
stand it." The meeting was held in a brightly 
lighted chapel in Covent Garden. A business 
man passing by took refuge from the storm, and 
made up half the audience that listened to an ear- 
nest plea for the importance of giving the Gospel 
to the North American Indians in British Colum- 
bia. "Work thrown away," grumbled the Lon- 
doner, as they made their way back to Regent 
Square. "Who knows?" replied the man who 
had spoken. " It was God's word, and we are told 



PETER'S BLUNDERING SWORD. 27 



that it shall not fall to the ground unheeded." I 
have always noticed that it is the man that has 
not been doing anything himself who is skeptical 
about results of other people's labors. If we were 
to go through this church we would find that it is 
the people who never win anybody to Christ them- 
selves who are entertaining the strongest doubts 
about the conversion of sinners during these meet- 
ings. What was the result of that missionary 
meeting with its two listeners? The passer-by 
who stepped in by accident tossed on his couch all 
night, thinking of the horrors of heathenism of 
which he had heard that night for the first time. 
And in a month he had sold out his business and 
was on his way to his mission work among the 
British Columbian Indians, where he has had great 
success, and has won hundreds of benighted souls 
to the Light of the world. 

May God inspire the hearts of every one of us 
with courage for the great battle that is now be- 
fore us ! Our forces are invincible if we shall go 
forward humbly in the strength of God. The 
same God who saved your soul is able to save the 
souls of the sinners who need him so much to-day. 
"The Lord's hand is not shortened, that it can not 
save; neither his ear heavy, that it can not hear." 
When David wanted to go and fight Goliath, the 
big Saul looked down on him with pity and said : 



28 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

" Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to 
fight with him : for thou art but a youth, and he a 
man of war from his youth." Then I see the flush 
of embarrassment glow on the cheek of David for 
a moment, but it dies down to live again in a 
quickened flash in his eye as he exclaims : " Thy 
servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a 
lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock ; 
and I went out after him, and smote him, and de- 
livered it out of his mouth ; and when he arose 
against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote 
him, and slew him. Thy servant slew both the 
lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philis- 
tine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied 
the army of the living God. The Lord that de- 
livered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of 
the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the 
hand of this Philistine." 

We have the same almighty arm on which to 
rely. " If God be for us, who can be against us?" 



THE CKISIS IN PETER'S LIFE. 



"Peter remembered the words which Jesus had said, 
Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he 
went out, and wept bitterly. " — Matt. xxvi. 75 (Revised 
Version) . 

This story of Peter's denial of Christ ought to 
humble every one of us before God. It shows the 
weakness of even the strongest of men when rely- 
ing on his own strength. When, a little while 
before, Peter had said to Christ, " Tho all men 
shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never 
be offended;" "Tho I should die with thee, yet 
will I not deny thee ;" " Lord, why can not I follow 
thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake" — 
when Peter uttered these strong sentences we 
can not doubt that he meant them in all sincerity. 
Insincerity was not one of Peter's faults. He was 
a blunt, plain man, impetuous, impulsive, who 
might do a rash thing under provocation ; but no 
man would ever suspect him of being a hypocrite. 
And only a few hours before the scene which we 
are now studying, at the betrayal of Christ into 

the hand of his enemies through the treachery of 

29 



30 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

Judas, we have seen Peter's sword drawn in gen- 
erous and brave defense of his Master. Yet when 
the Master submits to the arrest he seems to have 
forsaken Christ with the others and fled. But a 
little later he grows bolder, and goes into the pal- 
ace of the high priest and crowds up to the fire. 
Suddenly charged with being a disciple of Jesus, 
he denies thrice, and the last time with an oath, 
that he ever knew him. What a strange glimpse 
we have here of the fearful possibilities of weak- 
ness in our human nature. Here is a man who 
only a few hours ago could face a whole company 
of armed men with his single sword, undaunted; 
but now his cheeks are blanched and his lips soiled 
with profanity and lies at the accusation of a ser- 
vant-girl. "Let him that thinketh he standeth 
take heed lest he fall." No man is safe who de- 
pends upon his past record or upon his present 
consciousness of fidelity as an assurance that he 
will not fall into grievous sin in the future. Our 
safety can only come from constant reliance upon 
God. The greatest saint in the world as well as 
the greatest sinner, may appropriately sing, — 

" Rock of Ages, cleft for me, 
Let me hide myself in thee." 

It is well for us to consider the solemn and ear- 
nest truth suggested by this Scripture, that no 



THE CRISIS IN PETER'S LIFE. 



31 



man or woman who is trying to live a, godly life 
will escape temptation. Those who are congratu- 
lating themselves upon their freedom in the past 
from dangerous temptation may be already enter- 
ing the shadow of a struggle that will test their 
souls to their profoundest depths. Ian Maclaren, 
who has been writing for us those sweet Scotch 
stories so profitable for their spiritual insight, well 
says that one of our most amazing mistakes about 
life is when we divide people into the tempted and 
the untempted, supposing that while many are 
constantly exposed to severe trials, others are se- 
cluded from danger; but the fact is that our temp- 
tations come to us from our own peculiar circum- 
stances, and no one of us is able to estimate 
accurately his neighbor's situation. The differ- 
ence between the best man and the worst is not 
that one is tempted and the other is not, but that 
one is given victory by the grace of God and the 
other meets defeat by neglect of divine aid which 
would be as freely given to him as to the other. 
Sometimes young men look on some gray-haired 
man — whose face is the mirror of his holiness — 
and they imagine that he lives somehow on a 
mountain height where the poisonous breath of the 
low swamps of evil never reaches him or troubles 
him. But all such ideas are mistaken. The no- 
blest and purest men in the world are often tempted 



32 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

by evil thoughts and troubled by perplexing doubts. 
Temptation in this world is human discipline. 
Read over the lives of the Bible heroes, and any 
other honest biographies that you can find, and 
you will find that the best men that ever lived 
have been beset by temptation and trials all their 
lives long, and have had use for all their armor 
and need for the Sword of the Spirit and the help 
of God to the very last. Jesus Christ is the only 
perfectly good man whose life is portrayed to us 
in history, and he was the most fiercely tempted 
man that ever lived. All the artillery of the bot- 
tomless pit played about his head. It is in this 
furnace of temptation that men are tried and come 
to be strong soldiers for Jesus Christ. When you 
see a man who holds himself in hand as a good 
driver controls a pair of thoroughbred Kentucky 
horses, then you may know that he has paid for 
that self-mastery by many a struggle which only 
he and God know about. 

The fierce temptation of Jesus came as a prepa- 
ration to his public work. There is no disgrace 
in temptation. The shame and condemnation 
come when we yield to the temptation and it be- 
comes sin. If when one is tempted to evil he 
shuts the door of his heart against it and says, " I 
will not," the shaft of the enemy glances from his 
shield; but if he cherishes the thought, and con- 



THE CRISIS IN PETER'S LIFE. 



33 



siders how pleasant it would be to yield, and half 
wishes he might yield, then the poisoned arrow 
touches his blood. "When a man defends his 
castle unto blood, it matters nothing that the walls 
show bullet-marks ; if he creeps down and opens 
a postern-door, he is a traitor to himself. When 
the will weds temptation, the result is sin, and the 
end death." 

The tenderness and long-suffering kindness of 
Jesus Christ are nowhere more clearly illustrated 
than in his dealings with Peter. That tender, 
disappointed, beseeching, heart-broken look that 
he gave Peter is one of the strongest incidents of 
the whole story of his human life. Elizabeth Bar- 
rett Browning sings with spiritual appreciation : 

"Two sayings of the Holy Scriptures beat 
Like pulses in the church's brow and breast ; 
And by them we find rest in our unrest, 
And heart-deep in salt tears, do yet entreat 
God's fellowship, as if on heavenly seat. 
The first is, 'Jesus wept, ' — wherein is prest 
Full many a sobbing face that drops its best 
And sweetest waters on the record sweet. 
And one is, where the Christ, denied and scorned, 
Looked upon Peter. Oh, to render plain, 
By help of having loved a little and mourned, 
That look of sovran love and sovran pain 
Which he, who could not sin yet suffered, turned 
On him who could reject but not sustain. 
3 



34 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



" 'The Savior looked on Peter. ' Ay, no word, 
No gesture of reproach ! The heavens serene, 
Tho heavy with armed justice, did not lean 
Their thunders that way. The forsaken Lord 
Looked, only, on the traitor. None record 
What that look was ; none guess : for those who have seen 
Wronged lovers loving through a death-pang keen, 
Or pale-cheeked martyrs smiling on a sword, 
Have missed Jehovah at the judgment-call. 
And Peter, from the height of blasphemy, — 
'I never knew this man' — did quail and fall, 
As knowing straight that God, and turned free 
And went out speechless from the face of all, 
And filled the silence, weeping bitterly. 

"I think that look of Christ's might seem to say — 
'Thou, Peter ! art thou then a common stone 
Which I at last must break my heart upon, 
For all God's charge to his high angels may 
Guard my foot better? Did I yesterday 
Wash thy feet, my beloved, that they should run 
Quick to deny me 'neath the morning sun? 
And do thy kisses, like the rest, betray ? 
The cock crows coldly, — go, and manifest 
A late contrition, but no bootless fear ; 
For when thy final need is dreariest, 
t Thou shalt not be denied, as I am here — 
My voice, to God and angels, shall attest, 
Because I know this man, let him be clear. 

The crisis moment of Peter's life was when he 
encountered that tender, appealing look of Jesus. 
If he had hardened his heart against that he would 



THE CRISIS IN PETER'S LIFE. 



35 



have been a doomed man. In his quick yielding 
to that was his salvation. Let us learn from this 
picture that the first step toward salvation, when 
we have fallen into sin, is repentance. No salva- 
tion is possible without repentance. You might 
as well ask a man to swim a wide and swiftly 
running stream with a hundred -pound weight 
about his neck, as to tell a man to believe on 
Christ and be saved so long as he clings to some 
sinful and wicked habit. The first step toward 
salvation is in that repentance of our sins which 
not only gives us sorrow of heart because of sin, 
but causes us to turn from it and begin to do with 
earnest heart what God requires of us. If there 
are any here this evening who have been tempted 
into denying the Lord Jesus, and you feel to-night 
condemned that you have not been more faithful 
to him, I pray God that the Holy Spirit may re- 
veal to you that tender and appealing look which 
Christ gave Peter, and that it may break down 
the hardness and indifference of your heart; and 
that, like Peter, it shall cause you to weep bitterly 
because of your sins; and that, like him, also, you 
may go forth to be more perfectly than ever a 
witness to the divine power of Jesus Christ to save 
the soul. 

Dr. Cuyler tells the story of a presumptuous 
Alpine climber who, anxious to find a shorter path 



36 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



over the glaciers, quits his guide and sallies off to 
be a guide unto himself. He shouts back gaily to 
his companions, and laughs at their fears, while 
they are shuddering at his folly. A snow-drift 
lies across his path, soft as eider-down, and with 
headlong haste he plunges into it. In an instant 
he disappears from view, and the ring of the ici- 
cles in the depths of the crevasse is the last sound 
that strikes upon his ears as he plunges, mangled 
and senseless, into the ice-cavern that yawns to 
receive him. When consciousness returns he is 
barely alive, and that is all. It is impossible to 
climb up the perpendicular wall of the crevasse. If 
he remains where he is he will soon freeze to death 
in this awful sepulcher. As he listens for some 
sound, he faintly hears the musical tinkle of drip- 
ping water, and as he creeps slowly toward it he 
hears a running stream. It is pitch dark; but he 
gropes his way through the channel of the stream 
until he discovers a slight gleam of light on the ice 
walls of the aperture before him. He hails it as the 
dawn of hope. It tells him there is a possibility 
of salvation. Onward he struggles, until at last 
he emerges at the base of the glacier into sun- 
shine and safety ! Altho terribly bruised, he is a 
saved man ; and is so saved as to be able to save 
others from the presumptuous sins that came so 
near being his destruction. How ready he is to 



THE CRISIS IN PETER'S LIFE. 37 



warn others from that treacherous crevasse; and 
perhaps he puts up a finger-board of caution to 
warn other climbers who might be as reckless as 
himself. And when he again climbs such dan- 
gerous heights, how careful he is to have a trusty 
guide! Saved himself from the jaws of death, he 
tries to save others from a course as rash and 
reckless as that which has cost him so dearly. 

Such was the issue of Peter's salvation. After 
his bitter repentance and gracious recovery 
through the mercy of Jesus, he went forth to pro- 
claim salvation faithfully as long as he lived. If 
you find yourself to-night a sinner against God, 
follow the example of Peter; do not wait for an 
hour, but immediately forsake your sins and seek 
for forgiveness. 

"Manlike is it to fall into sin ; 
Fiendlike is it to dwell therein ; 
Saintlike is it for sin to grieve ; 
Christlike is it all sin to leave." 

It is the joy of my heart that I may preach to 
you the same divine Savior who so graciously 
saved Peter, and who is as strong and as willing 
to save now as then. He has not lost either his 
power or his love. He is "the same yesterday, 
to-day, and forever." You can not find me a sin- 
gle case in all the Scriptures of God's tenderness 



38 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

and forgiveness toward a repenting sinner, or to- 
ward any humble, prayerful soul, that he can not 
and will not repeat now, in your case, if you 
will come to him in humility and penitence and 
faith. Tho your backsliding may be as black as 
David's; though your life may be as scarred and 
impure as the poor woman who bathed the Mas- 
ter's feet with her tears ; yet if you will come to 
God as they did, your sins shall be blotted out and 
the perfume of your salvation shall rise to heaven. 
We read sometimes that in cases of shipwreck the 
life-boats are insufficient, and passengers are so 
crazed with a sense of danger that they forget 
everything but their fear of death and their de- 
sire to live, and fight for places in the life-boat ; 
but I bless God that in the life-boat which Jesus 
Christ has launched to save sinners there is room 
for all ! " He is able to save unto the uttermost 
all that come unto God by him." 



THE FATE OF JUDAS ISCARIOT. 



"Judas fell away, that he might go to his own place." — 
Acts i. 25 (Revised Version). 

In studying this history, I have been very much 
interested in noticing the care and earnest purpose 
of Christ in trying to save Judas from his beset- 
ting sin. If you have never looked over with this 
thought in mind the conversations and sermons of 
Jesus as recorded in the four Gospels, I am sure 
you will find it an exceedingly interesting thing to 
do. When you remember that Judas was present 
to hear them, light is thrown on a good many 
things which Christ said, showing that he knew 
Judas' great danger of making shipwreck of his 
soul, and was tenderly seeking to save him. Take, 
for instance, the Sermon on the Mount. I can 
imagine that, deep down in his heart, Judas must 
have felt that the Lord meant him when he said, 
" Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, 
where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where 
thieves break through and steal: but lay up for 
yourselves treasures in heaven. . . . For where 

your treasure is, there will your heart be also." 

39 



40 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



And still further on int he same sermon the Savior 
was evidently trying to give Judas his meat in 
due season when he said, " No man can serve two 
masters : for either he will hate the one, and love 
the other ; or else he will hold to the one, and de- 
spise the other. Ye can not serve God and mam- 
mon." That was exactly what Judas was trying 
to do. And Christ was speaking to the man's 
conscience as plainly as if he had singled him out 
and said, "Judas, you can not serve two masters; 
if you are going to serve me, and enter into my 
spirit, you must put your feet on this idolatrous 
love you have for money. If you do not, in the 
end you will hate me and sell your soul for greed." 

Or take the parable of the Sower. See how 
earnest was his warning to Judas as he speaks of 
the seed which fell among the thorns, and, altho 
it sprang up and began to grow, it was choked 
out with the cares, and riches, and pleasures of this 
life, and brought no fruit to perfection. 

Or notice again his parable of the rich farmer 
who as he grew richer increased still more in 
covetousness, and, tho all his crops depended on the 
sunshine and showers which God could alone be- 
stow, gave God no thanks; but when he went out 
in the springtime and saw the prosperity of his 
crops he said to himself, "What shall I do, be- 
cause I have no room where to bestow my fruits? 



THE FATE OF JUDAS ISCARIOT. 41 

And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my 
barns, and build greater ; and there will I bestow 
all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to 
my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for 
many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be 
merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this 
night thy soul shall be required of thee: then 
whose shall those things be, which thou hast pro- 
vided? So is he that layeth up treasure for him- 
self, and is not rich toward God." Judas heard 
all this. And on many other occasions Christ 
evidently had Judas' particular temptation in 
mind. Christ was as faithful to Judas as he was 
to Peter, or John, or any of the rest of his friends; 
but Judas resisted the good spirit and went on 
clinging to the bad and giving his soul up to 
greed. It grew upon him until in the end he 
flaunted it in the very face of Jesus. 

Take that case just before he goes to sell Christ 
to his enemies. It is in the house of Simon the 
leper. You remember the story : A woman came 
in having an alabaster box of ointment of spike- 
nard, very precious ; and she broke the box and 
poured the ointment on Jesus' head ; and Judas 
was so angry that he grumbled loudly about it 
right there at the table, and asked in hypocritical 
sanctimoniousness, "Why was this waste of the 
ointment made? for it might have been sold for 



42 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



three hundred pence, and given to the poor." 
Little cared Judas about the poor ! John, whose 
judgment of people was likely to be tender enough, 
certainly in his old age, when he wrote his Gospel, 
tells us: "This he said, not that he cared for the 
poor ; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, 
and bare what was put therein." But Jesus only 
looked at Judas in tender reproach and said, "Ye 
have the poor with you always, and whensoever 
ye will ye may do them good : but me ye have not 
always." It is significant that immediately after 
this occurrence it is recorded, " Judas Iscariot, one 
of the twelve, went unto the chief priests, to be- 
tray him unto them. And when they heard it, 
they were glad, and promised to give him money." 

What a wonderful lesson we have here in regard 
to our own personal responsibility ! Here is a man 
who for three years associated intimately with 
Jesus Christ. He had as good a chance to be- 
come a good man and live a noble life, one that 
would be a benediction to all who came in contact 
with him, and find heaven at last in eternal fel- 
lowship with his Lord, as any one of the friends 
of Jesus. He was a bright man, evidently as 
clear-headed at least as the majority of them, and 
he had the same opportunities to know Christ 
that the rest had. And yet what mellowed them 
and made them tender and gentle and loving, 



THE FATE OF JUDAS ISCARIOT. 43 

seemed to make his heart the harder. He stood 
by when Jesus wept over the fate of Jerusalem, 
but it aroused no kindred feeling in his heart. 
The trouble was that Judas was a selfish man, and 
while surrounded with men of generous feelings 
whose hearts were drawn out in love for Christ, 
selfishness banished love from the heart of Judas. 
I wish to urge this awful example upon any 
hearers who may have been thinking that because 
they have been reared in Christian homes and 
have grown up in association with Christian peo- 
ple, there can be no great danger that it shall not 
turn out all right with them in the end. Alas! 
history and observation show us that many who 
have been thus blest from childhood up, by their 
carelessness and indifference drift farther and 
farther away from God until they resist the Holy 
Spirit to the last and are lost forever. 

We have also here a suggestive lesson of the 
danger of entering upon a course of wrong-doing. 
The reading of explorations and travels in new 
lands has always had great fascination for me. 
In these stories of adventure I have marked with 
interest the many cases of lives lost by drowning 
in the waterfalls and cataracts and rapids of 
streams upon which the unfortunate voyagers have 
trusted themselves for the sake of exploration and 
easy travel. The explorer, when he launches his 



44 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

canoe or raft upon waters that are new and un- 
known to him, takes every possible precaution to 
guard against the probable dangers of his voyage ; 
yet in spite of all this, many a hardy and trained 
traveler loses his life because of unforeseen perils. 
But those who launch their boat upon the stream 
of sin and wrong-doing know beforehand that it 
is a river fraught with ever-increasing danger. 
Its current is strong and treacherous ; there is an 
undertow which is forever sucking beneath the sur- 
face multitudes of those who float upon its bosom ; 
there are rapid s, and along the shore are ever 
bleaching the skeletons of victims beaten to death 
upon the cruel rocks. The whole story of mankind, 
the warnings of Scripture, the record of every- 
day observation — all bear testimony that whoever 
launches his boat upon the stream of sin does so in 
the face of ten thousand warnings that, tho it 
may seem safe, "the end of that way is death." 

"We may take warning of the danger of setting 
our affections on the things of this world and ma- 
king ourselves believe that the treasures of greatest 
value are worldly possessions. In Judas the greed 
for wealth grew day by day, until at last he sold, 
his Master for thirty pieces of silver. A physician 
told me the other day that one of the most terrible 
things he ever saw was a man afflicted with par- 
esis, in whom the predominant faculty came into 



THE FATE OF JUDAS ISCAEIOT. 45 



supreme control. This man would sit for hours 
and hours at a big table, counting off with his fin- 
gers imaginary bills, ever and anon announcing to 
himself the number of thousands or millions of 
dollars which in his mind's eye he saw piled up in 
heaps on the table before him. Once the doctor 
came in unexpectedly. The man glanced up, but 
went on counting until he had finished nine hun- 
dred thousand dollars. Then he turned with flash- 
ing, excited eyes, and said: "My ship has just 
come in this morning ! Splendid cargo ! A great 
fortune aboard her I" 

Mr. Moody tells a similar story of a man in one 
of our insane asylums who walked up and down 
in the mad-house constantly, and his cry was, 
" If I only had !" That was his cry from morning 
till night in all his wakeful hours. His story was 
this : He was employed by a railroad company to 
take care of a swing-bridge, and he received a des- 
patch from the superintendent that an extra train 
would pass over the road, and that he must not 
turn the bridge until the train had passed. One 
after another came and tried to have him open 
the swing-bridge, and he refused to do it. At 
last a friend came and over-persuaded him, and he 
opened the bridge. He had no more than done 
so, when he heard the train coming. There was 
not time to close the bridge, and he saw the train 



46 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

leap, with all its living freight, into the abyss of 
death. His reason reeled and tottered upon its 
throne, and the man went mad. His cry was: 
"If I only had! If I only had!" Ah, that was 
the terror of poor Judas. Memory and remorse 
awoke within him and would give him no peace. 

This suggests to us a very solemn truth 
which is illustrated in the Scripture we are study- 
ing — that all the promises of the devil are lies. 
The devil made Judas believe that Christ's mis- 
sion was going to fail anyhow, and that it was a 
shrewd stroke of policy for him to make some 
money out of the transaction and light on his feet 
in the new order of things. But poor Judas soon 
found that he had sold his soul for naught. He 
had left God out of the account; he had left his 
own conscience out of the account; but he soon 
realized that he must deal with them. His con- 
science awoke within him and would not let him 
sleep. He had no peace day nor night. As Long- 
fellow, in his " Divine Comedy," makes him say, — 

" Lost, lost, forever lost. I have betrayed 
The innocent blood. ... 

Too late. Too late, I shall not see him more 
Among the living. That sweet, patient face 
Will nevermore rebuke me, nor those lips 
Repeat the words : One of you shall betray me. " 



THE FATE OF JUDAS ISCARIOT. 



47 



Oh, the terrors of an aroused conscience ! The 
fearful reckoning that comes when sin is illumi- 
nated by the search-light of an awakened memory ! 
As Dr. Thwing says, " Sin before the moment of 
commission is often like that image used in the 
Inquisition, which at a step's distance seems glo- 
rious and joy-giving. Sin after commission is 
like the same image which, once touched, draws 
the victim into its crushing embrace, piercing eye 
and heart and limb." At last poor Judas is so 
aroused and awakened that even his greed palls 
on his palate. He had sold his soul for silver, and 
now he despises it. In his remorse and his horror 
at himself he goes back to the chief priests, his 
fellow -plotters, and says to them, " I have betrayed 
innocent blood." They disdain him, and scoff at 
him, and coldly say, " What is that to us? See 
thou to that." That is the way the devil treats 
his victim always. I have seen a saloon-keeper 
do it over and over again. I have seen him flat- 
ter a young man — one with strong health, a good 
salary, and a pocketful of money. I have looked 
on while he fascinated the unwary youth and en- 
ticed him to become a visitor at his saloon. I 
have watched until the young man traded his 
health, and his salary, and his pocketful of mon- 
ey, and his good reputation — yes, and his own 
manhood — for strong drink. Then these eyes 



48 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



have seen him kick the same young man like a 
drunken dog into the street, and leave him there 
to die. That is a sample of what the devil does. 

When the priests mocked him, poor Judas knew 
not what to do. He could not endure to have the 
silver about him. It burned his pockets. It 
burned his fingers. It burned his conscience. 
And he flung the pieces down on the temple's pave- 
ment, and turned to flee. Ah, whither can he go? 
Oh, there was one place he might have gone even 
yet! If he had gone to Pilate's judgment-hall, 
even at that late hour, and crowded his way 
through the mob that were shouting, "Crucify 
him! Crucify him!" If he had fallen on his 
knees at the feet of Jesus, and let his poor heart 
break there at the feet of the Savior, he who for- 
gave Peter, who prayed for his enemies, and 
who pardoned the dying thief on the cross, would 
have forgiven Judas. But, alas! he rushed out 
into the outer darkness, and died the death of the 
suicide. 

We must not to fail to pause for a moment be- 
fore the significant lesson so apparent in the words 
of our text — " That he might go to his own place." 
The two worlds are joined together. Life is a 
school-time of preparation. We are in this 
world's school, fitting ourselves for immortal des- 
tiny. It does not require any special edict of God 



THE FATE OF JUDAS ISCARIOT. 



49 



to make happy in the world to come a good man 
who has loved Christ and his people and his cause 
while here on earth. He has already come to 
breathe the heavenly spirit; it is his natural at- 
mosphere. He loves the people of God, he de- 
lights in prayer, in meditation on the Word of God, 
and in communion with those who love his Sa- 
vior. Like the angels in heaven, he gets his 
greatest joy in beholding sinners in repentance at 
the Mercy Seat. Having entered into the spirit 
of heaven, when death shall set him free from the 
circumstances of earth he shall go to "his own 
place." Neither does it require any special edict 
of God to make the sinning soul miserable and full 
of remorse in the world to come. Having lived 
in rebellion against God, refusing to be governed 
by the spirit of Christ, careless about the salva- 
tion of lost souls, given over to his own selfish 
ways — when made free from the circumstances of 
earth he, too, in the very nature of things, will 
go to "his own place." 

Do not shut your heart against this message 
because you imagine Judas to be so terrible a sin- 
ner that it is not fair to compare you with him. 
Do not be self -deceived. There is no evidence 
that Judas was a greater sinner than others who 
follow their own selfishness, harden their hearts 

against the love of Christ, and refuse to yield to 
4 



50 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

him their loyalty and devotion. Alas ! all sin is 
akin. The only safety is in forsaking your sin 
and finding forgiveness in the mercy of Jesus 
Christ. I trust the fatal mistake of Judas may 
not be yours, but that now, having been convicted 
by the Holy Spirit of your sin, you will not grieve 
him away, but will permit the tenderness of Jesus 
and the sympathy of those who love him to win 
you from your sin to the cleansing fountain. 

The story is told of a gentleman who was stand- 
ing, one morning, on the platform of the Grand 
Central Railroad Station, in New York city, hold- 
ing the hand of his little girl, only seven years old. 
There was some slight detention about opening the 
car in which they wished to sit, and the child 
stood looking quietly about her, interested in all 
she saw, when the sound of the measured tramp of 
a dozen heavy feet made her turn and look behind 
her. There she saw a sight such as her young 
eyes had never looked on before — a short proces- 
sion of six policemen, two of whom marched first, 
followed by two others between whom (chained 
to the wrist of each) walked a fierce-looking man, 
and these were followed by two more, who came 
close behind the dangerous prisoner. The man 
was one of the worst ruffians in the city. He had 
committed a terrible crime, and was on his way 
to the State prison, to be locked up there for the 



THE FATE OF JUDAS ISCARIOT. 



51 



rest of his life. The little girl had heard of him, 
and she knew who it must be, for only that 
morning her father had said he would have to be 
sent up strongly guarded, for it had been suspected 
that some of his comrades would try to rescue him 
from the officers. The little company halted 
quite near her. Her father, who was talking 
with a friend, did not notice them. The child 
stood and watched the man with a strange, cho- 
king feeling in her throat, and a pitiful look in her 
eyes. It seemed so very, very sad to think that 
after this one ride in the sunshine by the banks of 
the river, the poor man, all his life, would be shut 
up in a gloomy prison, no matter how long he 
might live. Even if he should become an old, 
old man, he could never walk in the bright sun- 
light a free man again. All at once the prisoner 
looked at her, and then turned suddenly away. 
But in another moment he glanced back, as if he 
could not resist the sweet pity of that childish face. 
He watched it for an instant, his own features 
working curiously the while, and then turned his 
head with an impatient motion that told the little 
girl that she had annoyed him. Her tender little 
heart was sorry in a moment, and, starting for- 
ward, she went up close to the dangerous man, and 
said, earnestly: "I didn't mean to plague you, 
poor man; only I'm sorry for you; and Jesus is 



52 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



sorry for you, too." One of the policemen caught 
her up quickly, and gave her to her father, who 
had already sprung forward to stop her. No one 
had caught the quick words she had uttered save 
the man to whom they were spoken. But he had 
heard them, and their echo, with the picture of 
that tender, grieved child's face, went with him 
through all that long ride, and passed beside him 
into his dreary cell. The keeper wondered greatly 
that his dreaded prisoner made no trouble, and 
that as time passed on he grew gentler and more 
kindly every day. But the wonder was explained 
when, some months after, the chaplain asked him 
how it was that he had turned out such a different 
man from what they had expected. " It is a sim- 
ple story," said the man. " A child was sorry for 
me, and she told me that Jesus was sorry for me, 
too, and her pity and his broke my heart." 

How much more should you — who have been 
surrounded all your life by the tender mercies of 
God, and have, perhaps, many praying for you, 
whose hearts would be gladdened at your salva- 
tion — be melted down to repentance by the tender- 
ness of Jesus! But however lonely or friendless 
you may be, you may be sure that Jesus is sorry 
for you, and watches you with sympathy, and 
even now holds out his arms to you in entreaty, 
offering you fellowship, and rest unto your soul. 



CHRIST BEFORE PILATE. 



"Jesus stood before the governor." — Matt, xxvii. 11 
(Revised Version). 

"Pilate saith unto them, What then shall I do unto Jesus 
which is called Christ?"— Matt, xxvii. 22 (Revised Version) . 

Many of you have seen and studied that famous 
painting of Munkacsy's entitled, "Christ before 
Pilate," and perhaps all who have not seen the 
original have seen a copy of it. The artist has 
done a great deal to place the scene we are study- 
ing before the eye of the multitudes of mankind. 
The picture is very impressive : Jesus stands be- 
fore Pilate to receive the sentence of death. Cai- 
aphas, the high priest, in official robes, with all 
the bitterness of cruel prejudice, is the accuser; 
while all around the brutal mob cry out for the 
crucifixion of Jesus. The central figure is the 
Christ. The portrait of Jesus is the personifica- 
tion of spirituality, dignity, and majesty. He 
stands alone. His hands are tied together with 
stout cords. The position of the crossed hands 
and the poise of the body indicate not the despair 

of a prisoner, but the composure of one who is 

53 



54 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

conscious that at any moment he could summon to 
his aid "twelve legions of angels." You instinc- 
tively feel that Christ is the real judge and Pilate 
the prisoner of indecision and cowardice. Jesus 
is so ideal, yet so real ; his carriage so manly, yet 
so submissive; as another has said, the Man of 
Sorrows and the heroic soul are so closely joined 
in the person of Jesus that you do not know where 
one begins and the other ends. There confronts 
you on the canvas the raging, wicked mob ; and 
in their midst the glorious Christ stands radiant 
with the nobility of a great soul. His eyes are so 
calm and spiritual, his face so full of peace and 
love, that we would not be astonished to hear him 
tenderly say, "Father, forgive them, for they 
know not what they do." The whole appearance 
of the Christ reveals the mighty Savior that he 
is. Carrying on his shoulders the fate of nations, 
he can calmly pass unheeded the scorn and hate 
of his enemies. 

We turn from the Christ, with his pure, heroic 
soul shining in his face, to Pilate. He is arrayed 
in the white robe of a Roman senator, around 
which runs a border of purple. He sits on the 
judgment seat. He has the large, round head, 
the short hair, smooth face, and haughty bearing 
of the typical Roman under the Caesars. With 
his deep-set eyes he surveys the multitude, trying 



CHRIST BEFORE PILATE. 



55 



to discover what would be popular. Outwardly 
he is a calm politician; but his uneasy, restless 
eye and the nervous twitching of his ringers be- 
tray a deeply perplexed soul. Caiaphas, the high 
priest, a large man with full white beard, dressed 
in ecclesiastical robes, his outstretched hand point- 
ing defiantly at Christ, stands in front of Pilate, a 
little to the right. Prejudice, deep and malig- 
nant, shows in his cruel face. Between Christ 
and Caiaphas sits a rich Pharisee who gazes at 
Christ with insolent indifference. His air is that 
of proud satisfaction, as if he thanked God that 
he was holier than the prisoner before Pilate. 
The vicious, howling mob is painted with intense 
realism. A Roman soldier of fine proportions and 
imposing figure pushes back the surging crowd 
with his extended spear. To the left of the soldier 
there stands a rude fellow of gigantic stature, a 
perfect type of the ruffian in all ages, who with 
uplifted hands shouts: "Crucify him! Crucify 
him !" 

Next to Christ, the most attractive figure in the 
great picture is a beautiful young mother, hold- 
ing a little child in her arms. Her face charms 
you, and lingers in your memory. All that is 
tender, sympathetic, and lovely in woman's nature 
the artist has personified in this Madonna. Her 
loving face looking into Christ's with a sweet, 



56 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

holy trust, speaks volumes. These wicked, preju- 
diced men hate him. She loves him as her friend. 
You see it in her eyes. You behold her heart in 
her beautiful, sympathetic face. It was a true 
stroke of genius in Munkacsy to symbolize Chris- 
tianity by a young mother. She accepts the rising 
faith for herself and her child. 

As we look on the picture we can almost hear 
the uneasy, crafty Pilate as he asks the question 
of our text, " What then shall I do unto Jesus 
which is called Christ?" But this question is not 
Pilate's alone; it is as truly our question, and as 
seriously, and awfully, our question as Pilate's. 
Think for a moment of the credentials of him who 
stands there before Pilate. There never was any 
other individual in human history certified to by 
so many witnesses as Christ. Back vonder at the 
beginning, coming as a ray of hope in the midst 
of the desolation wrought by the first sin, God 
had promised that the seed of the woman should 
bruise the serpent's head. To Abraham in the 
desert God had renewed that promise in the 
declaration that in his seed all the nations of the 
earth should be blessed. And along down the line 
of history for thousands of years every prophet 
who walked with God and to whom God revealed 
the future beheld in the distance the coming of the 
Messiah, the Christ who was to be the Savior of 



CHRIST BEFORE PILATE. 



57 



the world. Isaiah's poetic and glowing pages are 
filled with the story of the One who was to come 
to preach good tidings unto the meek, to bind up 
the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the cap- 
tives, and the opening of the prison to those that 
were bound. One whose pleasure it should be to 
proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, to com- 
fort sorrowing hearts, to give unto them beauty 
for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and the 
garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. 
And when, at last, the infant Christ was born, 
Simeon, who had lingered beyond his time, took 
the little babe in his arms and exclaimed : " Lord, 
now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, ac- 
cording to thy word : for mine eyes have seen thy 
salvation." 

Angels gave their testimony to Christ. When 
Gabriel made the announcement to Mary, he said, 
" He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of 
the Highest." When the angels came to the shep- 
herds on that first Christmas night they said, 
" Unto you is born this day, in the city of David, 
a Savior, which is Christ the Lord." And on 
the first Easter morning, when the women came 
to the empty tomb, it was an angel who bore wit- 
ness, " He is not here, for he is risen." 

God, the Father, bore witness also to the mis- 
sion of his Son. At the baptism of Christ the 



58 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

Holy Spirit descended in the form of a dove upon 
the Savior, and a voice out of the heavens above 
declared, " This is my beloved Son, in whom I am 
well pleased." 

The friends of Jesus, both true and false, bore 
testimony that he was what he claimed to be. 
Peter, speaking for his true friends, exclaims on 
one occasion : " Thou art the Christ, the Son of 
the living God." And on another occasion he de- 
clares: "Neither is there any other name under 
heaven, that is given among men, wherein we 
must be saved." And Judas, speaking for his 
false friends, bears this testimony : " I have sinned 
in that I have betrayed innocent blood." 

Even the devils bore testimony to Jesus Christ. 
In the synagogue at Capernaum one cried out to 
him : " I know thee who thou art, the Holy One 
of God." And the demons that possessed that 
poor man over in the land of the swineherds, at 
Gadara, remonstrated: "What have we to do 
with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God?" 

Neither Pilate nor Herod could find anything 
wrong with him. After the most earnest at- 
tempt to find some excuse for yielding to the Jews, 
and for the crucifixion of Jesus, Pilate is com- 
pelled to say : " I find no fault in this man." Ah, 
but all the witnesses are not there ! If we could 
bring up the poor widow whose son he brought 



CHRIST BEFORE PILATE. 



59 



back from the grave; the lepers whom he 
cleansed; the deaf whose ears he unstopped; the 
blind whose eyes he opened; the palsied whose 
nerves he quieted ; the sick whose fever he cooled ; 
the poor, sinful, despairing souls to whom he gave 
freedom and purity and hope ; what loving testi- 
mony they would bring! And, thank God, we do 
not have to go back to the past for it. All along 
down the centuries the cloud of witnesses has been 
growing. Wherever his precious name has been 
proclaimed, numberless thousands have found in 
him the divine power that could forgive their sins, 
illuminate their darkness, and save their souls. I 
could call up around me to-night, in this church, 
witnesses who, if they were to tell but the simple 
story of their personal salvation, it would be as 
marvelous as anything recorded in the New Tes- 
tament, were it not that we are so accustomed to 
such incidents. Every day that the sun rises in 
the east and hastens to his setting in the west, 
there are thousands of men and women among the 
multiplied tribes of humanity who bow at the 
Mercy Seat and find that he is still able to separate 
their sius from them "as far as the east is from the 
west." 

Let us bring this question home to our own 
hearts. What are we personally going to do 
with this Christ? You, Christians, what are you 



60 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

going to say about him? — not only by your words, 
but by the practical answer of your daily lives. 
Many incidents have been related of tests to which 
professed Christians have been submitted by curi- 
ous and skeptical worldlings to see if their religion 
was genuine. The story is told of a merchant who 
professed to become a Christian. Some of the 
men with whom he dealt in business placed before 
him for decision a question of conduct. Would 
he sell a package of adulterated goods, marked 
and guaranteed as genuine? A converted lawyer 
was sought after almost immediately to take 
charge of an unrighteous case, to touch which 
would be sin. A large retainer was offered him 
to test his principles. Bets have, on many occa- 
sions, been exchanged upon the probability of a 
minister of the Gospel swerving from his plain 
duty for the sake of gain. Many times young 
Christians are solicited to enter into questionable 
amusements on purpose to test the honesty of their 
Christian profession ; but while these things occa- 
sionally occur, the real testing is going on all the 
time, and I pray God that the Holy Spirit may 
make this question very heart-searching to every 
Christian in this presence: "What am I doing 
as a Christian unto Jesus; is my daily conduct 
such that the people who have dealings with me, 
those who associate with me most, and know the 



CHRIST BEFORE PILATE. 



61 



details of my life best, are sure that I am faithful 
to Jesus Christ and that he is exercising a purify- 
ing and holy influence upon my heart and life?" 
If you can not answer this question in the affirm- 
ative, then the question comes to you as straight 
as to Pilate or to the Jews of his day, and with 
equal responsibility and importance — "What then 
shall I do unto Jesus which is called the Christ?" 

The question comes to any here who have been 
Christ's disciples, have once borne glad testimony 
to his saving power, but have fallen from that 
first love and whose Christianity to-day is only 
nominal. Whatever others may think about it, 
or know about it, you know, and God knows, that 
you are backslidden in heart. To you the ques- 
tion comes — " What shall I do unto Jesus? This 
Jesus who gave his life upon the cross for me; 
who sought me out when I was a poor, lost sinner; 
who gave me unspeakable joy in the forgiveness 
of my sins; and now that I have wandered away 
from him, and crucified him afresh, and put his 
cause to an open shame by my coldness of heart 
and my carelessness of life, still follows after me 
with patient love, saying unto my wayward heart, 
'I am married unto the backslider,' — what shall I 
do unto Jesus?" I commend unto all such the 
words which David Livingstone wrote in his rec- 
ord on his last birthday. He was in the heart of 



62 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



Central Africa, alone in the midst of the darkness 
of barbarism, but there he wrote: "March 19, 
1872 — Birthday. My Jesus, my King, my Life, 
my All; I again dedicate my whole self to thee. 
Accept me. ... In Jesus' name I ask it. Amen. 
So let it be." Oh, that every backslidden heart 
here might behold Jesus again as King, Life, 
All, and dedicate your whole selves anew to him ! 

The question comes to every burdened and 
weary soul here. I am sure there must be such — 
those whose burdens are too heavy for them to 
carry, who are weighed down by the cares of life, 
whose hearts often cry out for some resting-place. 
What are you going to do unto this Jesus who 
comes pleading with infinite tenderness, "Come 
unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, 
and I will give you rest." 

The question comes to you whose time and at- 
tention are taken up with the world, who say you 
are too busy to give thought to spiritual things. 
What are you going to do unto Jesus who says to 
you, " Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his 
righteousness ; and all these things shall be added 
unto you?" 

At Aix-la-Chapelle is the tomb of the great Em- 
peror Charlemagne. He was buried in the cen- 
tral space beneath the dome ; but the manner of 
his burial is one of the most impressive sermons 



CHRIST BEFORE PILATE. 



63 



ever preached. In the death-chamber beneath the 
floor he sat on a marble chair — the chair on which 
kings had been crowned — and, wrapped in his im- 
perial robes, a book of the Gospel lay open in his 
lap; and as he sat there, silent, cold, motionless, 
the finger of the dead man's hand pointed to the 
words of Jesus, " What shall it profit a man if he 
gain the world and lose his own soul?" 

How the question must ring in the ear of every 
one here who is conscious that there is resting 
upon his soul the guilt of unf orgiven sin ! What 
are you going to do unto Jesus, "The Lamb of 
God, which taketh away the sin of the world?" 
What are you going to do unto Jesus, who offers 
to be your sacrifice for sin? It is one of the fear- 
ful possibilities of the freedom of your will that 
you may reject him, that you may refuse his offer, 
that you may harden your heart against his plead- 
ing, and count the blood of the covenant an unholy 
thing, and make even his deathless love upon the 
cross in vain, so far as you are concerned. Some 
people did this when he was here on earth, and he 
said about them with tear-choked voice, " Ye will 
not come unto me that ye might have life." O 
brothers and sisters, conscious of your sins, hav- 
ing no other escape for them, what are you going 
to do unto this Jesus who comes offering to be 
your Savior, your Redeemer? I beg of you to 



64 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



accept him and crown him Lord over all in your 
hearts. He rightly asks of you an open disciple- 
ship. He says to you, " If any man will confess 
me before men, him will I confess before my 
Father and his holy angels." Don't refuse him 
to-night, but give him the brave and open confes- 
sion of your penitence and love. 



VOICES FROM THE CROSS. 



"They crucified him, and with him two others, on 
either side one, and Jesus in the midst." — John xix. 18 
(Revised Version). 

When I try to preach to men about the cross of 
Jesus and the exhibition of his deathless love in 
that one supreme sacrifice in the story of mankind, 
I envy the missionaries who have a chance to tell 
the story for the first time to ears that never have 
heard it before. If I could bring it to you as 
a fresh story to-day, it could but melt your 
hearts and bring sinners to repentance. But you 
have heard it so often, you have looked at it from 
every side, it has come to be a matter of course to 
you, until I fear that many hear it without appre- 
ciating its profound significance. I would I had 
the power with simple but skilful words to put be- 
fore your imagination that excited and blood- 
thirsty crowd that poured out of Pilate's judgment 
hall after the order had been given for the cruci- 
fixion of Jesus. See them for a moment ! See the 
fierce hate and the cruel expectation expressed in 

their eyes and faces as they glare with mocking, 
5 65 



66 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

sneering ferocity at the Christ bending beneath 
the weight of the cross upon which he is to die. 
About him there is a little group of soldiers who, 
while they protect him from the rabble, goad him 
on toward Golgotha. Remember he is wearing 
your flesh and mine ; he has a human brain and 
tender, sensitive, human flesh ; nerves delicate and 
susceptible to ache and pain. Think of what he 
has already endured. He has been led from Pilate 
to Herod, and from Herod back to Pilate again. 
His brow has been pierced with that cruel crown 
of thorns. His shoulders have been made bare for 
the smiters. He has been beaten until the blood 
has run down over his body, and now he goes out 
tremblingly, bending beneath the weight of that 
huge cross. At the foot of the hill he staggers, 
and stumbles, and falls. The mob shout derisively, 
but the soldiers see that something must be done. 
Perhaps they fear he will die on the road and the 
cruel sport will be spoiled; and so they press a 
stranger — Simon the Cyrenian — into service, 
doubtless because he is big and strong ; probably a 
black man from Africa. Poor black man, he has 
had to bear many a cross in the progress of civili- 
zation! But never was man, black or white, 
forced into a more honorable place than Simon the 
Cyrenian who carried the cross for Jesus up the 
rugged slope of Golgotha. 



VOICES FROM THE CROSS. 67 



And now they are come to the place. Two 
thieves are there to be crucified also. The horrible 
work of preparation begins. The holes in which 
the bases of the crosses are to rest have been already 
dug, perhaps. The victims are stretched upon their 
instruments of torture. The cruel nails are driven 
through the hands and feet. A low moan of agony 
comes from the sufferers. The pain is too awful, 
the agony too deep and terrible, for outbreaking 
screams. Men scream when they are hurt a little; 
when the iron enters their souls they only moan. 
Then great strong arms and massive shoulders 
are thrust beneath the crosses, and they are lifted 
into the air with their bleeding victims. With a 
dull, heavy thud the center pieces fall into their 
places. There they hang before the cruel and 
pitiless multitude! There are three crosses — on 
either hand a thief, "and Jesus in the midst." 
Below is the pitiless mob and the no less cruel sol- 
diery. Some of the more bold of the crowd come 
up close to the Christ to taunt him in his agony, 
and they cry out at him, " Ah, you're the man 
that was giong to destroy the temple and build it 
again in three days ! You saved others, but now 
you cannot save yourself!" 

But as we look up into the face of the Christ we 
see no answering flush of hatred or revenge. We 
see only pity and tenderness and imploring love on 



68 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



that white, drawn face. The eyes are turned to- 
ward heaven; the lips move as in prayer. We 
lean forward to catch the words that may fall 
from those piteous lips ; even the mob is hushed 
for a minute with curiosity to hear what he will 
say in reply, but he is not replying to them. It is 
the voice of pleading that falls on our hushed ears, 
and the plea is to the heart of God, "Father, for- 
give them; they know not what they do." Oh, 
was there ever love and pity like that ! 

"When I survey the wondrous cross 
On which the Prince of glory died, 
My richest gain I count but loss, 
And pour contempt on all my pride. 

"See, from his head, his hands, his feet, 
Sorrow and love flow mingled down ; 
Did e'er such love and sorrow meet, 
Or thorns compose so rich a crown? 

"Were the whole realm of nature mine, 
That were a present far too small ; 
Love so amazing, so divine, 

Demands my soul, my life, my all. " 

In spite of their agony, the two men who are 
dying on either side of Jesus can but have their 
attention drawn to the great interest aroused in 
the multitude by the figure on the central cross. 
One of these malefactors was evidently a very 
hardened man, and though he was himself at the 



VOICES FROM THE CROSS. 



69 



close of a wicked and terrible life, he joins with 
the mob in scoffing at Jesus, and rails on him, 
saying, "If thou be Christ, save thyself and us." 
But the man on the other side seems to have gotten 
a little glimpse of the divine meaning of the death 
of Jesus. Perhaps the tender, loving prayer of 
Christ to which he had just listened had been a 
revelation to him, and so he rebukes the other, 
saying, " Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art 
in the same condemnation ? And we indeed justly ; 
for we receive the due reward of our deeds ; but 
this man hath done nothing amiss." And then 
with a look of infinite longing he turns his eyes on 
Christ and says, " Lord, remember me when thou 
comest into thy kingdom." It was the prayer of 
penitent faith and the Savior answered it at once. 
How tender must have been his look, sending a 
divine glow of hope to the poor dying sinner's 
heart, as he exclaimed, " Verily I say unto thee, 
To-day shalt thou be with me in Paradise." 
There are some here this morning who, above all 
other needs that they have, for this world or the 
next, need to behold that look of the Lord Jesus, 
about which the poet sings : 

" I saw one hanging on a tree, 
In agonies and blood, 
Who fixed his languid eyes on me, 
As near his cross I stood. 



70 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



"Sure never till my latest breath 
Can I forget that look : 
It seemed to charge me with his death, 
Though not a word he spoke. 

"A second look he gave, which said, 
'I freely all forgive ; 
This blood is for thy ransom paid ; 
I die that thou mayst live. "' 

Thank God, Jesus is able to save unto the utter- 
most every one who will come unto God by him ! 
One of the saddest things they ever do in a hos- 
pital is to send away a patient who has come to 
them a few weeks, or a few months, before, in 
great hope that the skill of the physicians would 
be able to heal his disease and make him a well 
man, with the sad message that they can keep 
him no longer because they have found him incur- 
able. There are no incurable cases to the Great 
Physician except those who refuse his treatment. 
David told Saul about one lamb of his flock that 
he rescued out of the very jaws of the lion, and 
one other that he plucked from the paws of a bear ; 
but Jesus has multitudes that he has seized as 
" brands from the burning," and he is as able to save 
now as he was when that poor dying thief lost all 
his sins at one word from his gracious lips. The 
other thief who was crucified with Jesus might 
have been saved as well if he had not hardened 



VOICES FROM THE CROSS. 71 



his heart against the Savior's love. Christ never 
has to do as men sometimes are compelled to do — 
choose between those whom they would save in 
times of danger and peril. 

I think one of the saddest stories I ever heard 
was of a man who was in a shipwreck. They 
were not far from the shore. He was a strong 
swimmer, but his wife was clinging to one arm 
and their only child to the other. So encumbered, 
he felt that his strength was giving way, and that 
to save both was impossible. Which one should 
he leave behind? — for it was that, or all three 
must die together. It was a heartrending alter- 
native ! But it was do or die, and with a break- 
ing heart and almost frenzied brain he shook off 
his child and swam away with its mother from its 
dying cries. Oh, I bless God that Jesus never 
has to make such a choice as that ! He did not 
carry one of these poor men up to heaven alone be- 
cause he was not strong enough to take both with 
him, but because the other hardened his heart 
against the Savior and refused his tender love. 
And so I say to any who are listening to me, if 
your mother, or your wife, or your child, is saved 
at last while you are lost, it is not because Jesus 
is not willing to save you, for he is seeking after 
you most tenderly. His word is full of gracious 
invitations. Listen to some of them. If you 



72 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



never heard them before, listen to them now: 
" Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast 
out ;" " I am the door ; by me if any man enter in, 
he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find 
pasture;" "I am the resurrection and the life: 
he that believeth in me, tho he were dead, yet 
shall he live : and whosoever liveth and believeth 
in me shall never die ;" " If ye abide in me, and 
my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, 
and it shall be done unto you ;" " And the Spirit 
and the bride say, Come. And let him that hear- 
eth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. 
And whosoever will, let him take the water of life 
freely." "He that hath ears to hear, let him 
hear." 

Pilate wrote over the cross of Jesus, " Jesus of 
Nazareth, King of the Jews." The priests tried 
to get him to change it, but he would not do it. 
O Christian men and women, if you want to 
sweeten the crosses you bear, put the name of 
Jesus on your cross also. Do not forget to put 
the word "King," in remembrance that your Sa- 
vior is "King of kings, and Lord of lords." I 
call you to the way of the cross. It is the only 
way of safety. In the heart of Switzerland, in 
the high Alps, where the roads and paths 
climb up into the domain of perpetual winter and 
ice, and where the way is often cut out of the face 



VOICES FROM THE CROSS. 73 



of the precipice of rock where a single false step 
would mean a horrible death to the unfortunate 
traveler, they set at the most dangerous places 
huge crosses to tell where the path lies; and in the 
winter time, when that mountain track is covered 
over with the deep snow-drifts that hide the yawn- 
ing gorge and the dangerous crag, the traveler's 
only safety is to keep in line with the great crosses 
that rise above the drifted snow. So I call you at 
this hour to the only path of human safety, the 
path of the cross. 

It is only those who come by way of the cross, 
and who have entered into fellowship with the 
Savior in self-denying service, who are welcomed 
at the gate of heaven, where Jesus reigns supreme. 
Laura Ormiston Chant sings this truth very clearly 
in her song of " The Calvary Road :" 

" Once there came a soul to the doorway of heaven 
Calling to the angels, ' Open the door ! 

I am one of the great 

Of the earth, and my state 
And my splendor were such men have striven 
To catch sight of the print of my feet where I trod ; 
I have come to be welcomed and honored of God. ' 

" Spake the angels low as they paused in their singing : 
'Hast thou served thy brethren there on the earth? 
Hast thou righted the wrong — 
Saved the weak from the strong- 
Hast thou humbled thyself for love, flinging 



74 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



Thy soul to the dark and the sinning of men — 

Hast thou suffered, loved, saved to the best of thy ken?' 

" But the soul was angry — left the doorway, crying, 
'These are not the words they should say to such as I ! 

They must have heard my name 

For the trump of my fame 
Must have blown to the sky, when my dying 
Put the town into mourning a month at the least, 
And stopped all the music, the dance and the feast. ' 

" Sang a little angel to her bright harp golden, 
Carols sweet and high of a poor man's love ; 

Whom the rich knew not 

And the great one forgot 
In the centuries time- blurred and olden ; 
But who blessed little ones, a life that should save them. 

"So the ages passed, and the angels still waited 
Singing and watching to open the door, 

When one night in the rain 

Of earth's winter, the pain 
Of a soul asking help, and belated, 
Came into the light, where the angels in white 
Were all gazing on God and aglow with the sight. 

" Then there came a sound as of knocking and praying — 
'Open, angels, open ! Let the outcast in. 
For the Lord's dear sake 
Whose heart had to break 
To teach men pity, know no delaying. 
Here's a hurt soul I bring to the mercy of your King, 
She is 'shamed and sorry, angels, O let her hear you 
singT 



VOICES FROM THE CROSS. 75 



" How the angels of time flew to the gold door of heaven — 
"Welcomed the two souls, saying, ' Evermore 

Be thou the greatest 

"Who servest and waitest, 
Thou who gavest service art forgiven ; 
Thou hast lost self in love, and the Christ-path hath trod ; 
'Twas the Calvary road to the homestead of God.'" 



THE THREE MARYS BESIDE THE CROSS. 

"There were standing by the cross of Jesus his mother, 
and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and 
Mary Magdalene. "—John xi. 25 (Revised Version) . 

In the group that stood about the cross of Jesus 
on that awful day of crucifixion all the faces were 
not bitter and full of hate. Among those there 
who were friendly were three women who were 
loyal and faithful to Christ to the end. The first 
one to be named is his mother, Mary. How 
natural it seems, and how true to our knowledge 
of human nature, that his mother should have been 
faithful when so many others forsook him and 
fled. A mother's love is proverbial for its tender- 
ness and constancy. It will stand more testing, 
and go through a hotter furnace, coming out like 
pure gold, than any other love save that of Jesus 
Christ. A man may wander from the path of 
honor, he may bring disgrace on the name of his 
ancestors; the father's heart may get hard against 
him and refuse to forgive the family shame ; even 
the brothers and sisters that played with him about 
the fireside may turn coldly from him ; but so long 

76 



THE THREE MARYS BESIDE THE CROSS. 77 

as the wanderer lives he knows there is one spot 
that is true to him — his mother's heart. Mary, 
the mother of Jesus, is by no means the only 
mother who has followed her son to the cross. 

I have been very much interested in an article 
in one of our religious journals by Rev. Gerald 
Stanley Lee on "Being a Madonna." The writer 
calls attention to that wonderful painting of the 
Sistine Madonna by Raphael, in the Dresden Gal- 
lery. It is a wonderful, innocent face, filled with 
a child's wonder at her own child, worshipful 
with worshiping. Her whole being seems to so 
shine with the consciousness of him that you see 
him not only beautiful in her arms, but again and 
more beautiful in her eyes. Yet Mary was not a 
perfect mother. You remember the time when 
they had been up at Jerusalem and she forgot 
Jesus. She was not the Sistine Madonna always. 
The Sistine Madonna was what she wanted to be ; 
but there were occasions when she did not realize 
it. It is impossible that she could have had that 
Sistine Madonna look in her face when, taken up 
with the sight-seeing, or the interesting conversa- 
tion of the other women, she forgot her Son, and 
lost him in the great city. She looked then as 
Marys often look now. She did not have that 
Sistine Madonna look when, with anxious heart 
and quivering lips and tearful eyes, she hastened 



78 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

about through the company from one to another 
crying, "Have you seen my Son? Have you seen 
my Son?" It ought to be a comfort to the mothers 
to remember that even the mother of Christ had 
her weaknesses and her faults. But the crown of 
Mary was her humility. Her sweet, confessing, 
wondering unfitness chose her to be the mother of 
the King. Henceforth, forever, the highest token 
of motherhood is the beautiful awe of the child. 
Every child, through Mary's child, is henceforth 
a mine of unsearchable riches, with the tiny seeds 
of divine possibilities nestling in its little heart. 
The shepherds still sing to waiting mothers. 
There is a vision over every cradle, and the wise 
men bring their gifts to every beginning life. 
" Glory to God in the highest !" seemed to sing in 
the air above her boy's head — to his mother. All 
the mighty prophet voices that reverberate through 
the history of her people followed him, as she 
watched him in the door-yard and playing among 
the shavings of his father's carpenter shop. She 
remembers the prophecy, " A little one shall be- 
come a thousand, and a small one a great nation," 
and sings, and, like all mothers, whatever the 
words, as she goes about the house, all her songs 
are of her child. As she rocks him to sleep and 
softly lays him down and gives the mother kiss 
that seals his sleep with sweetness, she smooths 



THE THREE MARYS BESIDE THE CROSS. 79 

the covering and stands over him dreaming ; and 
she listens to the peaceful breathing and wonders 
in her innocent soul what Isaiah could have meant 
to say of him : " He is despised and rejected of 
men," "He was bruised for our iniquities;" and 
she bends over and looks again, and the pure lines 
of the child Savior's face seem to say, "Peace, 
peace," and she wonders, and she steals away. 
" With his stripes we are healed, and the chastise- 
ment of our peace was upon him," rings through 
all her household cares, with the dim shadow of a 
dark cross coming and going, and the haunting of 
a far-away cry. She can not bear it, and leaving 
all she creeps back and bends over him once more. 
"It was not easy to be a 'Madonna.' From the 
beginning to the end Mary was anxious, as are 
other mothers. To and fro, over the beautiful 
awe, swept the great sorrow shadow. Jesus was 
crucified on the cross. Mary was crucified at the 
foot of it. Mothers know." What a glorious 
consciousness it must have been to Mary on that 
awful day of separation to remember that she had 
never thwarted the will of God, and though beset 
by weaknesses like other mothers, she had, from 
the day that she brought him a little babe to 
Simeon in the temple, sought to point his feet in 
the way of righteousness and truth. There had 
been much about his mission she could not under- 



80 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

stand, but that she did not stand in the way of it 
we know by her utterance at that first miracle, at 
the wedding feast in Cana, when she spoke to the 
wondering servants and said, "Whatsoever he 
saith unto you, do it." 

O mothers who hear me, are you seeking with 
all your heart to bring your children to God? — to 
turn their feet to the paths of righteousness and 
truth? The best gift you can ever give them is 
the gift of a sweet and simple piety in their very 
childhood. Do not wait until they are grown up 
and gone out to be the hot-bed of evil seeds sown 
by worldly hands ; but now, while they are young, 
while their love for you is simple and unaffected, 
while your influence upon them is almost all-pow- 
erful, bend all your energies to win their heart's 
love to God. Then for you, as for Mary, the time 
may come when you shall have to go with them 
to the cross, see them pass through many sorrows 
and severe trials, but you will never need to blush 
for them if their hearts are pure and their lives 
"hid with Christ in God." 

It is certainly a very interesting and suggestive 
fact that the sister of Mary should be with her, 
sharing the terrible danger and the tender devo- 
tion of this trying hour. She has no doubt been 
led to this supreme fidelity to Christ through 
her love for her sister — showing us the magical 



THE THREE MARYS BESIDE THE CROSS. 81 

power of human influence in winning people to 
Christ. How speedily the world would be won to 
Christ if every Christian now living appreciated 
in its full measure the power of influence ! Every 
one of us is so situated in little narrow circles that 
there are some one or two relatives or friends so 
close to us in sympathetic fellowship that if we 
were to set our hearts upon it, as the one thing we 
desired above everything else, we could soon win 
them to the Lord. Oh, for a devotion to Jesus 
that will make us ashamed to go month after 
month empty-handed of those who might be res- 
cued from sin through our sympathy and friend- 
ship ! 

Dr. Con well tells of a visit to the Hospice of St. 
Bernard, where are kept the wonderful St. Ber- 
nard dogs, of whose work in rescuing perishing 
travelers overtaken by the Alpine storms so many 
tales are familiar to all. Dr. Con well says that 
one morning after a storm one of these great, hon- 
est creatures came struggling through the snow, 
hampered greatly in his exhausted condition by 
the little barrel of brandy that hung on his collar. 
The doctor waded deep in the drifts, following the 
floundering old fellow around the Hospice to the 
kennel, which was a room of considerable size. 
When the door opened to the wanderer, the other 

dogs within set up a chorus of barks and whines, 
6 



82 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

and fell over one another as they crowded about 
him and eagerly followed him around with wags of 
their tails and inquisitive looks in their eyes, which 
were just as intelligent questionings as so many 
interrogation points. But the crestfallen beast 
held his head and tail to the floor, and sneaked 
about from corner to corner, and finally lay down, 
panting, in a dark niche of the stone basement. 
He lay there with his eyes glancing out at the cor- 
ners in a most shamefaced way. The 3 T oung monk 
who had charge of the animals called the weary 
dog by name, and when the beast would not leave 
his shadowy retreat, he tried to induce him to 
come forth by showing him a dish containing 
scraps of meat. But, hungry as he was, he merely 
opened his eyes a little wider, rapped the floor once 
or twice lightly as he gave a feeble wag to his 
tail, and then shrank back and seemed not to hear 
or see the invitation. The impatient keeper turned 
away with an angry gesture, and said that the 
dog would get over his sulks very soon, and that 
the creature was ashamed that he " had not found 
any one." The thoughtless remark shot into Dr. 
Con well's soul with a thrill. The noble old dog 
seemed to have felt so sorry, so ashamed, or so 
guilty, because he had returned without saving 
any one, that he would not eat. It was not his 
fault that no benighted wanderer had been out be- 



THE THREE MARYS BESIDE THE CROSS. 83 



numbed and dying on the mountain-road that 
awful night. He had grandly done his duty, but 
he was just dog enough not to reason so far, and 
just human enough to feel that it was his impera- 
tive duty to save some one. Grand old dog! 
How he ought to put to shame many a human soul 
who knows there are travelers going down in the 
biting cold, and freezing to death in the cruel 
storms that sweep over life's mountainous high- 
ways, and yet never lose a night's sleep because 
they have never yet saved a lost man from death. 

What we need is a passion for soul-saving; one 
that will make us feel that above everything else 
that is the supreme mission of our lives. Let us 
see to it that we turn to account every friendship 
we have, every bit of sympathy and gratitude that 
is owing to us in the heart of every man and wo- 
man we know, that it may aid in winning them 
away from their sins to our Savior and our Lord. 

There is another Mary at the foot of the cross — 
Mary Magdalene. When we think about it we 
are not astonished, to find her there also. When 
she first became acquainted with Jesus she was a 
poor, wicked, demon -possessed woman. Christ 
was kind to her. He dispossessed her soul of the 
evil spirits, and in her great gratitude and love 
she became his devoted and loyal friend forever- 
more. Peter might deny the Master if he would, 



84 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

others might forsake him and flee, but she owed 
all she was to him and it never occurred to her 
that it was possible for her to desert him in the 
hour of his trial. How many there are of us who 
have the same reason for loyalty that Mary Mag- 
dalene had! We, too, were poor, lost sinners. 
The devils of anger, and selfishness, and appetite, 
and passion, possessed our poor hearts, and were 
leading us, bound hand and foot, to be the slaves of 
evil. Then Christ came to us and inspired our 
hearts with the hope that there was for us some- 
thing infinitely better ; the hope that he was able 
to set us free from the bondage of sin and death. 
And when at last our faith was aroused, and we 
besought him, he came into our hearts, drove out 
the evil spirits, and gave us the gladness of his 
peaceful presence. He taught us to sing : 

"Oh, happy day that fixed my choice 
On thee, my Savior and my God ! 
Well may this glowing heart rejoice, 
And tell its raptures all abroad. 

" 'Tis done, the great transaction's done ; 
I am my Lord's, and he is mine ; 
He drew me, and I followed on, 
Charmed to confess the voice divine. " 

He did all that for us. What have we done for 
him? He is still being crucified among men. 



THE THREE MARYS BESIDE THE CROSS. 85 

Are we showing forth everywhere our gratitude to 
him? He asks us that we shall wear his name; 
that we shall tell men what great things the Lord 
has done for us ; that we shall so testify to him 
that others, hearing of his goodness to us, shall 
forsake their sins and accept him. There is no 
greater sin than ingratitude. I put it home to 
your heart, I pray that the Holy Spirit may put it 
to your conscience, whether you are showing forth 
in your daily conduct and conversation the grati- 
tude which is due from you to the Lord Jesus 
Christ. 

And you who are not Christians, I urge upon 
you this blessed truth that the same Christ who 
cast out from the heart of Mary Magdalene seven 
devils, and gave her this great cause for thanks- 
giving, is able to save you from every sin which 
haunts you and masters you. Some of you are 
mastered by evil habits that have been growing 
for a long time. They seemed insignificant at 
first, and you dallied with them. You thought 
you could break them off when you pleased, but 
you are coming to understand that you are not 
your own master ; that when you determine to do 
good, the devil who possesses you and to whom 
you have yielded the fortress of your heart makes 
you do evil. Perhaps you are discouraged and 
disheartened, as Mary Magdalene was until she 



86 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

met Jesus ; but when she met him the devils were 
cast out, her poor heart was cleansed, and her life 
dawned anew. O my brothers and sisters who 
are conscious of overmastering sins and wicked 
habits, I pray that you may meet Jesus Christ to- 
night ! He is here now. He is in his Word. He 
is in the hearts of his people. He is even closer to 
you than that — he is knocking at the door of your 
heart and saying to you, " Open the door and let 
me in, and I will sup with you and you with me." 
Heed, I pray you, that tender appeal ! 



JOSEPH AND NICODEMUS AT THE 
BURIAL OF JESUS. 

"Joseph of Arimathsea, being a disciple of Jesus, but 
secretly for fear of the Jews, asked of Pilate that he 
might take away the body of Jesus : and Pilate gave him 
leave. He came therefore, and took away his body. And 
there came also Nicodemus, he who at the first came to him 
by night, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a 
hundred pound weight. So they took the body of Jesus, 
and bound it in linen cloths with the spices. ... In the 
place where he was crucified there was a garden ; and in 
the garden a new tomb wherein was never man yet laid. 
There .... they laid Jesus. " — John xix. 38-42 {Revised 
Version) . 

The great sacrifice was complete. Having per- 
fected his gift of himself as "the Lamb of God," 
offered for "the sins of the world," Jesus had 
cried, "It is finished!" As if rebelling against 
the ingratitude of mankind, the veil of the temple 
and the sky overhead and the rocks beneath burst 
forth in expressive sympathy at the stupendous 
sacrifice. There is an old story of a dumb son 
who had followed his father to battle. In the 
midst of the fight, seeing his father had been 

struck down and was lying on the ground with a 

87 



88 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



sword pointed at his breast, under a sudden im- 
pulse of love and fear for his father's life he burst 
the impediment that had tied his tongue from his 
birth and cried aloud in exclamations of terror. 
So at the crucifixion of Christ, when our ungrate- 
ful race was silent, the rocks and skies, hitherto 
dumb, uttered cries of anguish. 

This last testimony to the divine mission of the 
Son of God seems to have had the effect of bring- 
ing two distinguished men from their cowardly 
concealment of faith in Jesus, and causing them 
to risk everything in showing for him their rever- 
ence and their love. One of these men, Joseph of 
Arimathaea, had been a disciple, we are told, but 
secretly, for fear of the Jews. He was a member 
of the national legislature, or Sanhedrin; a rich 
man, and belonged to the highest and ruling so- 
cial class; he was also a man of excellent reputa- 
tion. We are not told how he came to know 
about Jesus in such a way as to believe on him 
and love him, while the other public men rejected 
him; but he seems to have been a man whose 
mind and heart were open to receive the truth, and 
from what he had heard and seen of Christ he be- 
lieved that he was the true Messiah. When the 
vote was taken in the Sanhedrin, he cast his vote 
against the condemnation of Jesus ; but until after 
the crucifixion he did not have courage to come 



JOSEPH AND NICODEMUS. 89 



out boldly and avow his faith in Christ's divine 
mission and declare his own love for him. How 
much he might have done to have won the men of 
his own station by such avowal we can not tell, but 
there can be no doubt that his influence, while it 
would not have saved Christ from crucifixion, 
would have been a powerful weight in favor of 
Jesus among the younger men of his own circle. 
What luster it would have added to his name, 
what glory to his character, throughout all time if 
he had thrown his wealth and position generously 
and bravely into the scale in a courageous effort 
to win the Jews to Christ ! There have been deeds 
like that. There is a story of a noble sacrifice 
which was once made to save the life of a king. 
The tide of battle was against him; he had be- 
come separated from his guard and was threatened 
with immediate death; he was surrounded by his 
enemies — their swords ringing on his helmet, 
every one eager to obtain the honor and reward of 
his capture or death. In that crisis-moment a 
brave man who loved his king, seeing his danger, 
spurred his horse into the thick of his enemies, 
shouting, as he waved his bloody battle-ax above 
his head, "I am the king!" and thus caught in 
his own bosom the sharp blades that in a moment 
would have been buried in his master's flesh. 
Alas ! Joseph missed his greatest opportunity. 



90 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

The other conspicuous figure at the funeral of 
Jesus was Nicodemus. He was a man of the 
same situation in life as Joseph and also a mem- 
ber of the Sanhedrin. He had become very much 
interested in Christ and in his teachings during 
the early part of his public ministry. Once his 
interest had been so deep that he had come to 
Christ at night and had had a most heart-search- 
ing personal conversation with him about the 
great realities of the spiritual life. He, too, had 
voted with Joseph against the condemnation of 
Christ; but, like his rich neighbor, had not had 
the courage to publicly show his interest in the 
Savior. Perhaps, as Bishop Walker suggests, 
he was afraid of the sneers of his fellow-Phari- 
sees, and thought the new religion was not yet 
reputable enough for the august senators of Ju- 
daea to accept. It was well enough for fishermen, 
" but have any of the scribes or Pharisees believed 
in his name?" was their query. It is plain from 
the conversation of the night when Jesus told him 
"Ye must be born again," that he believed the 
Savior to be a teacher sent from God. He was 
no doubt in earnest in seeking for light. Had 
Christ's religion been popular among the people 
with whom he associated, he would gladly have 
become his open disciple ; but he could not get the 
consent of his pride to wait on the teachings of a 



JOSEPH AND NICODEMUS. 



91 



carpenter from Nazareth, and take his place with 
common sinners, despised tax-gatherers, and poor 
fishermen. And so after his night talk with 
Christ he went away with a sigh. When the 
Sanhedrin were seeking some excuse to murder 
Jesus he tried to do something to help the Lord 
without committing himself as his disciple. He 
raises a legal question : " Doth our law judge any 
man before it hear him and know what he doeth?" 
He did not have the courage to stand up before 
those bigoted men and say frankly: "I was 
troubled and ill at ease in my own conscience, and 
wondered what I ought to do in order to be at 
peace with God, and I went one night to see this 
Jesus, and had a frank talk with him; and I tell 
you, my friends, I have never seen any other 
man yet who impressed me as he did. He 
searched my conscience to its very depths. I 
never shall forget the impression he made upon 
me when, looking me in the eye with that heart- 
piercing look of his, he said to me, with the 
authority of a prophet, 'Except a man be born 
again, he can not see the kingdom of God.' And 
I confess to you, brothers, I came away from him 
that night with the profound conviction that he 
is a teacher sent from God." What a bombshell 
that would have been in the midst of their wicked 
plotting ! But poor Nicodemus had not the cour- 



92 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



age to rise to such heroism, and when some sneer- 
ing plotter called out to him, in reply to his meek 
question about the law, "Art thou also of Gal- 
ilee?" he slunk back into his seat and did not dare 
utter another word. " That silence is guilt, for it 
was submission to the act of murder by which the 
Son of the great God was slain. The want of res- 
olution, the poor amiability which could not thun- 
der its protests against that wrong in the senate 
chamber of Israel, is as colossal a wickedness in 
the eyes of high heaven as their voices were who 
on the day of the Calvary tragedy cried, 'Crucify 
him ! Crucify him !' The voice that was not 
brave enough to be heard when by decision it 
might have averted a crime, was doubly guilty, 
because it omitted to help when it might save." 

But how many there are to-day who are repre- 
sented by this cowardice of Joseph and Nicodemus 
— men and women who have been born in a Chris- 
tian land, have been reared in Christian communi- 
ties, know well the gracious influence of Christian 
civilization, have been blessed by the influences of 
the Christian church all their lives, and yet have 
never given any open expression of their gratitude 
to Christ. They are by no means unbelievers; if 
you ask them, they tell you they wish the church 
well, they would not put a straw in its way ; and 
yet in this mighty struggle which Jesus Christ 



JOSEPH AND NICODEMUS. 



93 



and his friends are making to capture the world 
for righteousness and liberate lost souls from the 
tyranny of sin, they refuse to give their open 
friendship and loyal service to the Christ whom 
they believe to be their only hope of salvation. 
There are many members of the church who stand 
practically in this ungrateful position. Their 
names are on the church roll and they are counted 
in its statistics; yet whenever the church is mar- 
shaled for battle against the world and the flesh 
and the devil, they are conspicuous by their ab- 
sence. If it is a gala occasion, they will be there ; 
but in great emergencies, when the pastor and 
earnest souls are seeking to hurl the latent Chris- 
tian power of the church as a battering-ram 
against evil, or to send it forth seeking after the 
wandering and the lost, winning them to God and 
salvation, they can not be counted upon. God 
help us, that we may not belong to that class! 
An outspoken, daring friendship for Jesus Christ 
on the part of its members is what, above all else, 
the church needs and must have to give it the full 
measure of its divine power. 

But when on that awful day of crucifixion the 
rocks were rent, the sun veiled its face, the very 
graves were opened and the dead came forth, and 
dumb nature groaned in agony at the death of 
Jesus — then the lethargy of Joseph and Nicode- 



94 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



mus was broken, and with one accord, throwing 
prudence to the winds and daring everything, they 
came to do what they could to show, even at this 
late hour, their love for Christ, the expression of 
which they had denied him during his life. We 
can not tell whether they had talked it over to- 
gether or not. It seemed to be just the overflow- 
ing of their broken hearts. Chaplain McCabe tells 
about a superannuated Methodist preacher, who was 
an officer thirty years ago and more at Missionary 
Kidge, who amid the rain of bullets and bursting 
of shell shouted to his soldiers, " Come on ! Come 
on !" and they followed him in a glorious charge 
up the mountain. General Grant, who was pres- 
ent and looking on, said to General Sheridan: 
" Did you order that charge?" " No," said Sheri- 
dan; "they are doing it themselves." In that 
awful hour after the Savior's death the repressed, 
but now irrepressible, admiration and love of Jo- 
seph and Nicodemus for the Savior burst forth, 
and they came to do what they could for their 
Lord. Joseph went and begged of Pilate the 
body. He had to hurry or it would have been 
thrown to the ravens and the jackals. I can im- 
agine I hear him saying to himself, as with an 
aching heart and a lump in his throat he hurries 
through the city to see Pilate: "It is the only 
thing left for me to do. Oh, that he was only 



JOSEPH AND NICODEMUS. 95 



alive again that I might put my arms around his 
neck, if only for once, and look in those dear eyes 
and say, 'Jesus, I love thee!' It is too late for that 
now, but perhaps I can save his poor body from 
indignity." And so he hurries on and gets per- 
mission to take the precious casket from which the 
loving spirit had flown. In the mean time Nico- 
demus, broken-hearted, too, at his ingratitude in 
the past, is searching the shops for the finest linen 
and the most precious myrrh and aloes, that he 
may assist Joseph in the last loving tribute they 
can pay the Lord. They meet at the cross, and 
with John the beloved disciple and the Marys they 
tenderly take down the poor wounded body of 
J esus. They wash away the dust and blood, anoint 
the body with the fragrant spices, wrap it in clean 
linen, and then that little funeral procession wends 
its way into the garden to Joseph's new tomb, 
which, after the fashion of the rich, he had pre- 
pared to receive his own body when death should 
have wrought its work upon it. Ah, now that 
these men have broken the seal of their secrecy, 
and given their hearts' love unreservedly to the 
Savior, there is nothing too good for Jesus. The 
finest linen, the most precious spices, the new tomb 
built for the rich — everything that is best is at 
the disposal of the Lord when once the broken and 
contrite heart has crowned him Lord over all. 



96 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

Let me plead with you who, like Joseph and 
Nicodemus, have been delaying your open espousal 
of the Savior. Let me assure you that every day 
you stay away from Christ, refusing him your 
open friendship and your outspoken love, you are 
laying up for yourselves reasons for regret. I 
have heard many thousands of people testify con- 
cerning their Christian experience. I have never 
yet heard one testify that he was sorry he had 
given his heart to Christ when young. But, on 
the other hand, I have heard multitudes deeply re- 
gret that they had hardened their hearts against 
him so long. I have never met a man or a woman 
that came to Christ in childhood who did not re- 
joice over it in later life and regard it as the wisest 
possible step that could have been taken. This 
universal testimony ought certainly to be of 
weight with you, and I urge you that you do 
not delay longer. "To-day is the day of salva- 
tion!" 



THE POWER OF THE RISEN CHRIST. 



"He is not here; for he is risen, even as he said. 
Come, see the place where the Lord lay." — Matt, xxviii. 6 
(Revised Version). 

That was a "Black Friday" indeed to those 
mourning friends of Jesus when, late in the after- 
noon, they laid his wounded and broken body in 
Joseph's new tomb. Black Friday has been 
changed to Good Friday because of the halo of 
glory thrown around it by after events. But to 
the disciples that afternoon was dark and hope- 
less. A dear friend whom they had loved with 
all the tenderness of their hearts, and whom they 
had hoped would be the Redeemer of their suffer- 
ing land, had been slain. Altho Jesus had 
again and again sought to give them the idea of 
the resurrection, and the promise that he would 
break asunder the bonds of death, they had not 
been able to grasp the great significance of his 
words. They mourned him as one dead and lost 
to them. How long that Saturday or Sabbath 
must have seemed to their sore and weary hearts ! 
But at last it drags itself by, and as the first flush 
7 97 



98 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

of dawn comes over the hills and across the city, 
the women who so loyally and faithfully kept their 
vigil by the cross, and followed with Joseph and 
Nicodemus and John to the burial of their master, 
brought with them precious spices and came again 
to the tomb, to pay a farther tribute of love to the 
body of Jesus. 

But great things have been transpiring about 
that tomb since last they saw it. Spurgeon says 
that when the sacrifice of Christ was finished, and 
he had paid the ransom price to redeem us from 
under the law, that price was presented before the 
Father's judgment seat. He looked at it and was 
content. But as it was a solemn matter, it was 
not hurried over. Three days were taken, that 
the ransom price might be counted out and its 
value fully estimated. The angels looked and ad- 
mired. The "spirits of the just" came and exam- 
ined it, and wondered, and were delighted. The 
very devils in hell could not say one word against 
the sacrifice of Christ. The three days passed 
away, the atonement was accepted. Then the 
angel came from heaven ; swift as the lightning- 
flash he descended from the spheres of the blessed 
into this lower earth, and he came into the prison- 
house in which the Savior's body slept — lying 
there as a hostage for his people. The angel 
came and spoke to the keeper of the prison, one 



THE POWER OF THE RISEN CHRIST. 99 

called Grim Death, and said to him, " Let that 
Captive go free." Death was sitting on his 
throne of skulls, with a huge iron key at his gir- 
dle of iron; and he laughed, and said, "Aha! 
thousands and thousands of the race of Adam 
have passed the portals of this prison-house, but 
none of them have ever been delivered. That key 
has been once turned in its wards of destiny, and 
no mortal power can ever turn it back again, and 
draw the bolts from their resting-places." Then 
the angel showed to him heaven's own warrant, 
and Death turned pale. The angel grasped the 
key, unlocked the prison door, and stepped in. 
There slept the royal Captive — the divine Hos- 
tage. And the angel cried, " Arise, thou Sleeper ! 
Put off thy garments of death. Shake thyself 
from the dust and put on thy beautiful gar- 
ments." The Master arose. He unwound the 
napkin, and laid it by itself. He took off his 
grave-clothes and laid them by themselves, to 
show he was in no hurry, that all was done legally 
and therefore orderly. So was the Master set at 
liberty — by heaven's own officer, who came down 
from heaven to give him just liberty — God's proof 
that the atonement was complete. 

And so when these mourning women came 
toward the tomb that morning, wondering among 
themselves who should roll away the stone for 



100 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



them, they did not know that it was an empty 
grave to which they were coming. And how as- 
tonished they were, when they drew near, to see 
the stone rolled back from the door of the sepul- 
cher and on it the angel of the Lord. But the 
angel comforts them by saying: "Fear not ye: 
for I know that ye seek Jesus, which hath been 
crucified. He is not here; for he is risen, even as 
he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. 
And go quickly, and tell his disciples, he is risen 
from the dead ; and lo, he goeth before you into 
Galilee; there shall ye see him; lo, I have told 
you." " And they departed quickly from the tomb 
with fear and great joy, and ran to bring his dis- 
ciples word. And behold, Jesus met them, say- 
ing, All hail. And they came and took hold of 
his feet, and worshiped him. Then saith Jesus 
unto them, Fear not; go tell my brethren that 
they depart into Galilee, and there shall they see 
me." 

There is no fact in human history more thor- 
oughly established by credible testimony than the 
resurrection of Jesus. Paul, who was learned in 
the law and who had the legal temperament very 
strongly marked, summed up the evidence in the 
most careful manner and calls attention to the fact 
that Christ appeared to Mary Magdalene, to Ce- 
phas, to the eleven, to five hundred brethren at 



THE POWER OF THE RISEN CHRIST. 101 

one time, to James, again to the eleven, and, last 
of all, to Paul himself. Such a variety of appear- 
ances, such a diversity of revelations of himself, 
the fact that he ate and drank with them, on some 
occasions carried on long conversations with them, 
and all this extending through forty days, leaves 
no ground for reasonable doubt. It is absurd to 
say that these men were deceived. They knew 
the Lord Jesus by constant intimate association 
with him for years. Was the mother that bore 
him likely to be deceived? Was Thomas the kind 
of man that was likely to be duped? And yet be- 
fore the nail-prints in his hands, and the wound 
in his side, he doubted no more and cried aloud, 
" My Lord and my God !" Five hundred people at 
one time were not likely to be deceived, and Paul, 
one of the hard-headed men of his time, through- 
out his life made the resurrection of Jesus Christ 
the foundation-stone of his ministry. And every 
one of this inner circle of the disciples of Jesus 
not only continued to preach the fact of the resur- 
rection while they lived, but they endured all 
manner of persecution because of it, and they 
suffered martyr deaths with joy because of this 
glorious faith. 

It is doubtfu 1 if any of us fully appreciate how 
much light and glory has been thrown upon hu- 
man living by the diffusion of the knowledge of 



102 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FEIENDS. 



the resurrection of Jesus and the consequent prom- 
ise of blissful immortality to all that believe in 
him among the minds and hearts of the race. Dr. 
Kane, the Arctic traveler, tells us that when the 
six months of darkness in which lie and his men 
had been held in the far north had at last begun 
to pass, and every day for a little longer time the 
sun began to look above the horizon, to stand in 
that gracious light was like bathing in perfumed 
waters. A darkness worse than that, brought 
about by sin and the consequent fear of death, had 
been hanging like an Arctic midnight over the 
race of mankind. But Jesus came and went down 
into the grave, and burst asunder the bands of 
death, and came up out of the grave, the Sun of 
Kighteousness, rising on our poor benighted world 
with healing in his beams. 

To all of us who love Christ how much this 
precious faith means when we are called from 
time to time to earthly separation from our loved 
ones ! For it is the resurrection of Christ that has 
discovered to the eyes of our faith that summer-land 
of immortality where we hope to meet those who 
have fallen asleep in Jesus. In " The Ministry of 
Bereavement" a recent writer has given us a most 
touching fable, illustrating divine truth: A little 
boy was heart-broken because his sweet young 
sister was dying. The child had heard that if 



THE POWER OF THE RISEN CHRIST. 103 

one could secure but a single leaf from the tree of 
life that grew in the garden of God, every illness 
could be healed. No one had dared to attempt the 
quest, however, for the way was very hard and a 
great angel guarded the gate of the garden against 
mortals. The child loved his suffering sister so 
well that he resolved to find the garden and plead 
with the angel for the healing leaf. So over rock 
and moor and hill he went, until in the golden 
sunset the beautiful gate appeared, and he tearfully 
made his request to the angelic sentinel. " None 
can enter this garden," replied the angel, "but 
those children for whom the King has sent, and he 
has not called for you." "But one leaf," pleaded 
the child, " one little leaf to heal my sister. The 
King will not be angry. He can not wish that my 
sister should suffer so and die and leave me all 
alone. Have pity, great angel, and hear my 
prayer." The angel looked down on the little 
suppliant with deep love and pity, and said : " The 
King has sent my brother, the Angel of Death, to 
bring your sister to himself. If you are allowed to 
keep her, will you promise me to see that she shall 
never again lie tossing on a sick-bed in pain?" 
"How can I?" said the wondering child. "Not 
even the wisest physicians can keep us from sick- 
ness always." "Then will you promise me that 
she shall never be unhappy, nor do wrong, nor 



104 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

suffer sorrows, nor be spoken to or treated 
harshly?" asked the angel. "Not if I can help 
it," answered the child, bravely; "but perhaps 
even I could not always make her happy." 
"Then," replied the angel, tenderly, "the world 
where you would keep her must be a sad place. 
Now I will open the gate just a little, and you 
may look into the garden for a moment, and then, 
if you still wish it, T will ask the King for a leaf 
from the tree of life, to heal your sister." And 
the astonished child looked in where grew the liv- 
ing tree, and where flowed the crystal river, and 
where stood the bright mansions, and where 
walked and talked immortal children under a 
light more beautiful than that of the sun, and 
with friends more loving than those of earth, and 
where love and blessing reigned forever. He 
looked until his eyes widened in surprise and 
glowed with joy, and, turning to the angel, he 
said, softly : " I will not ask for the leaf now. 
There is no place so beautiful as this ; there is no 
friend so kind as the Angel of Death." So the 
child turned back under the stars that shone now 
like celestial eyes upon him. And as he went a 
ray of holy light fell upon his path, and wonderful 
music, such as he never before heard, filled his 
ears, and he knew that the golden gate had opened 
to receive his sister. And it was so that when he 



THE POWER OF TEE RISEX CHRIST. 105 



saw her silent form upon her little bed at home, 
he was comforted. 

How many of us have been comforted in like 
manner ! And if I now speak to any whose pres- 
ent life is robbed of much of its joy and beauty 
because of the horrible fear of death that hangs 
over you, I preach you the glorious Gospel of Him 
who brought life and immortality to light. " The 
sting of death is sin." I preach you a Savior who 
has been victorious over both sin and death. 
Jesus Christ came to destroy the works of the 
devil, and he is able to blot sin out of your heart, 
to forgive the sins of your life, to give you victory 
over sin, and thus by removing the cause to drive 
away the fear of death and fill your heart with the 
radiant sunshine of an immortal hope. 

The Christ who has been victorious over the 
mightiest enemy of the human race is the con- 
quering Christ in whose strength we may be more 
powerful than all that can be against us. By his 
divine aid we may get victory over every sin that 
has held us in bondage. One of the sisters con- 
nected with the West End Mission in London, 
two years ago this winter had the following re- 
markable experience : It was a dark, cold, foggy 
night in December. A message had come from 
one of the slums in the West End, "Please come 
and see me at once." The good woman found her 



106 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



way with great difficulty to the address given. 
An untidy landlady answered her knock, carrying 
in her hand two inches of tallow candle. 

"Does Mrs. T. live here?" 

"Yes," she replied, ungraciously. 

"Could I see her?" 

"Umph! you'll be silly enough if you do, I 
sha'n't go with you." 

" But she has sent for me, and I should like to 
see her." 

"Well, as I said before, if you're silly enough; 
but you'll go by yourself. I've seen too much of 
her already ; I left her dead drunk an hour or two 
ago." 

"Come," said the sister, as cheerfully as she 
could, "you can't leave me to go up-stairs alone, 
a stranger; just show me the room, and then you 
can leave me." 

"I've said I wouldn't," replied the woman, ob- 
stinately, "and I don't want to." 

"Never mind, go along," and pushing her 
gently, the sister got her up the stairs. The land- 
lady opened the door, lifted up her candle, and 
found another, which she lighted. 

It was a terrible place which was revealed by 
the dim candle-light. Every piece of furniture in 
the room was broken ; on the unsteady table stood 
a few unwashed pots, and in one corner an un- 



THE POWER OF THE RISEN CHRIST. 107 

tidy bed, upon which lay a young woman not 
twenty-five years of age, half dressed, with long 
black hair hanging over her shoulders, her voice 
hoarse and thick, her mind dazed by drink. 

"There," said the landlady, "that's a pretty 
sight ; a young woman with as good a husband as 
ever lived, who has forgiven her over and over 
again ; but it's come to the end now, he'll have no 
more of it, and out she goes to-morrow. I'll leave 
you to her." She banged the door, and the sister 
thought she was gone. Putting her head in again 
she said, "Oh, sister, I'll just tell you her last 
trick: she's pawned nearly everything in the 
place, and lately she's gone out tidily dressed and 
come back without frock or bonnet or boots — all 
has gone for drink." 

After delivering that information with great 
vehemence, she went away and left them alone. 
For a few moments there was silence, in which 
the Christian woman lifted up her heart to God 
for help; then a thin, unwashed hand was slipped 
into hers, and an unsteady, thick voice said : 

"Schister! schister! Give me some gin; gin, 
gin, I want; give me some gin!" 

" It is gin that has brought you to this." 

"Yes, but I can't live without it." 

" Then you had better die." 

She had brought three bottles of gin in with 



108 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



her. The sister made her tell her where they 
were. She put them out of the room, and as the 
woman began to grow sober she sat down and lis- 
tened to her story. The wretched woman had 
married four years before; she had been accus- 
tomed to a busy, active life, and having little to 
do had become dull and at times depressed. She 
found a glass of wine a great enlivener, and quite 
unconsciously became a slave to it, until, step by 
step, she had sunk to this awful depth of degrada- 
tion. Her husband had forgiven and endured for 
four years ; he had done all that love could devise, 
and that day was the last he would live with her. 

When she reached this point, she put out her 
arms pleadingly, and cried with heartrending 
agony : " Save me, sister, save me ! I long to be 
free ; I long to give it up. I have tried hundreds 
and hundreds of times. Sister, save me; there is 
no one else in the world to help me. Save me !" 

"I can't save you," said the sister; "but there 
is One who can. Jesus Christ came into this 
world on purpose to save you. He is stronger 
than any sin ; yes, stronger than drink. He will 
save you if you will let him." 

" There is a time, we know not when, 
A point, we know not where, 
That marks the destiny of men, 
To glory or despair. " 



THE POWER OF THE RISEN CHRIST. 109 



That point had come in this life. This devoted 
Christian woman felt that if this wretched crea- 
ture was ever to be saved it must be accomplished 
that night. 

"How can I let him save me?" said the now 
thoroughly aroused woman. 

"By never touching drink again as long as you 
live." 

"But I wish I could give it up. I can't." 

"You can't; but when Christ is in you — when 
Christ is part of you — you can." 

A gleam of hope was beginning to dawn in her 
sin-marked face, and very tenderly she asked, 
"Sister, will you ask him to help me?" 

Then that earnest Christian woman prayed as 
seldom before. And the poor woman prayed for 
herself; beginning timidly at first, but as she 
prayed, gathering hope and faith ; and there, in 
that desolate place, where sin has wrought such 
riot and havoc, the resurrected and conquering 
Christ broke the snare of the devil. 

And tho there was many a temptation and 
struggle afterward, for two years that woman 
has come off more than conqueror through Him 
that loved her and gave himself for her. Her 
husband's heart is glad, her home is happy, and 
she is greatly blessed of God in rescuing others 
who are lost as she was until Jesus found her. 



110 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



I urge upon you all that there is no case too 
hard for the Christ, who has won the victory over 
sin and the grave. He is the mighty conqueror 
forever. 



THOMAS, THE DOUBTER, RECLAIMED. 



"Then saith he to Thomas, Eeach hither thy finger, 
and see my hands ; and reach hither thy hand, and put 
it into my side : and be not faithless, but believing. 
Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my 
God. Jesus saith unto him, Because thou hast seen me, 
thou hast believed : blessed are they that have not seen, 
and yet have believed. " — John xx. 27-29 {Revised Version) . 

We do not know why Thomas was absent from 
the meeting of the disciples on the first occasion 
of Christ's appearance to them after his resurrec- 
tion. It is quite probable, however, that he was 
not with them because he had fallen into a state 
of religious despondency. His faith that they 
were to see anything more of the Lord was not 
very strong, and therefore he stayed away from 
the meetings. I have heard that excuse given in 
all seriousness by some good people during this 
very series of meetings. If Thomas had expected 
that the Lord was going to meet with them, noth- 
ing could have kept him away. The reason he is 
with them at this time is, no doubt, because he 
has been so influenced by the testimony of the 
disciples that Jesus had appeared unto them and 
111 



112 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

broken bread with them on the former occasion, 
that he has determined not to miss another chance. 
He would not receive their testimony, and declared 
unequivocally to them that unless he should put his 
ringer in the nail-prints in the Savior's hands, and 
touch the wound in his side, he would never be- 
lieve in the resurrection. Yet, notwithstanding 
all these statements, no doubt honestly made, the 
joyous enthusiasm of the other disciples had its 
effect on Thomas, and while he thought they were 
deluded, and had only seen an unsubstantial vision, 
he could not help but feel that they were a good 
deal happier than he was, and that something very 
remarkable must have happened to lift the terrible 
load of gloom off their hearts and fill them with 
such joyous assurance that their Master had tri- 
umphed over death and was at that very moment 
a living personage. Whatever may have been the 
working of Thomas' mind, he had evidently come 
to the conclusion that in the future he would stick 
close to the rest of the friends of Jesus, and if any- 
thing good did happen to them he would be on 
hand for a share in it. Thomas never came to a 
wiser conclusion than that. 

In this conduct of Thomas and the reason for 
his changing his action there is suggested a valu- 
able lesson for us all. If the Lord appears to you 
in the house of God, and blesses you with a con- 



THOMAS, THE DOUBTER, RECLAIMED. 113 

sciousness of his presence and love, tell it abroad 
wherever you go, sound the good news to every- 
body you see. No other advertisement will draw 
to the church so many people who need to find the 
Lord as the testimony of glad hearts that have 
seen him and been blessed by him. 

In this respect Christianity differs from any- 
thing else in the world. In worldly affairs, if a 
man finds a chance to make a large sum of money 
by a certain investment he is as silent as the grave 
about it until he has everything completed. Over 
in Colorado or Idaho, or up in Alaska, where pros- 
pectors are always out among the mountains seek- 
ing after veins of gold-bearing quartz, if the lucky 
miner comes upon a rich find he does not go talk- 
ing about it to every other prospector he meets ; 
but as far as possible he hides every indication of 
his good fortune and turns other prospectors off on 
another trail until he has made sure of his title to 
the newly discovered mine. That is the selfish 
standard of the world, but thank God it need not 
be so and is not so in the higher realm of spiritual 
treasure. The other disciples were none the less 
glad because they let Thomas know about the joy- 
ous fact of the Savior's triumphant conquest over 
the grave. Indeed, their gladness was largely in- 
creased by this generosity. Thomas, the doubter, 

the man in the blues, the grouty pessimist, was 

8 



114 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

very poor company, and his gloomy face threw a 
shadow over all their joy and faith. But when 
they had stirred Thomas up enough to make him 
come to the meetings again, and the Lord had ap- 
peared to them a second time, Thomas, having 
seen him himself and having had all his doubts 
dispelled, found his face shortened by half and the 
gloom all gone. Joy and peace beamed from his 
strong countenance and the joy of all the others 
was multiplied. So it is that the conversion of 
any man in the community adds to the heavenli- 
ness of that spiritual climate which is constantly 
making the world a sweeter and brighter place to 
live in. If you want to add to your own spiritual 
joy there is no way you can so surely accomplish 
it as to bring some one else into the enjoyment of 
Christ. 

In this picture we are studying there is another 
suggestion that is exceedingly comforting to our 
hearts — the gentleness and patient condescension of 
Jesus in specially singling out Thomas and lov- 
ingly meeting his doubts and using every method 
possible to dissipate them forever. The whole 
history of God's dealings with the world is in 
harmony with the divine gentleness illustrated in 
Christ's loving-kindness toward Thomas. Jesus 
Christ manifests to us the heart of God. As Dr. 
George W. Cooke has recently said, Jesus helps 



THOMAS, THE DOUBTER, RECLAIMED. 115 

us to see that God is so like man that his heart 
may go out to us in every temptation, sorrow, 
and sin, and with a perfection which brings the 
strength of God to our help in any time of weak- 
ness or infirmity. He enables us to sing, with all 
confidence, 

" When other helpers fail, and comforts flee, 
Help of the helpless, O abide with me !" 

When all other hopes have been dashed to the 
ground God remains to the open* heart with his 
peace, benediction, and love. When the need is 
great and despair rises within us, as it did in the 
mind and heart of poor Thomas, God does not go 
away, but remains near and precious to the broken 
and contrite spirit. Even when we have tried to 
go our own way and failed, God does not reproach 
us or cast us off ; but by tender revelations of him- 
self, by gentle promise and the iuspiration of hope, 
he quiets our restless spirits, and heals them with 
a deepened trust. We all need some heart to lean 
upon in which there is both strength and tender- 
ness. Jesus Christ is, to every one that will open 
his heart to receive him, such a heart, that will 
never fail us, that never scorns us, that deals with 
us as gently as a mother with her child, that 
stoops to our own level, and in stooping lifts us up 
into a life more beautiful and precious than any- 



116 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

thing we could have ever known without his ten- 
der love and sympathy. Christ has made God 
real to us. He has been to us the face of God 
shining upon us in tenderness and peace. 

But Jesus has not only revealed to us the heart 
of God, a heart that is equal to all our needs for 
sympathy and love; he has also revealed to us 
God's justice, truth, and holiness in such a way 
that we are able to understand them and rejoice in 
them. It was of little value that men should have 
thought of God as beautiful like Apollo, or pos- 
sessed of huge strength like Titan. But Christ, 
coming into the midst of our human life, living 
the God-life before our eyes, has helped us to a 
larger conception that brings together loveliness 
and power in a being as gentle as he is majestic. 
Since we have seen Jesus walking the streets of 
our common life, going about doing good, it is 
possible for us to think of God as perfect holiness, 
without stain of impurity or defect, and yet capa- 
ble of walking with sinners and laying his hands 
upon them with a gentleness which wins away all 
their love for that which is evil. 

Since Christ has lived in the world and become 
the most vital character in all human history, re- 
vealing to us "God manifest in the flesh," God is 
no longer to the believing soul mere will, intellect, 
or holiness ; he is not force, power, or law ; he is 



THOMAS, THE DOUBTER, RECLAIMED. 117 

a living, loving, saving personality, a friend we 
can lean upon, a Master who teaches us the word 
of life, a loving heart that trusts us and is trusted 
by us. He turns not from us when we forget him, 
but seeks to win us back again with loving pa- 
tience. Though we forget him and revile him, 
and harden our hearts against his love, he grows 
even more anxious for our good, if that be possible, 
and tenderly continues to knock at the locked doors 
of our hearts. 

It has never been very difficult for thoughtful 
people to conceive of God as masterful, powerful, 
sublime, and omnipotent. It has been more difficult 
to realize him as being holy and perfect and yet 
close enough to us to be a real helper and guide. 
No other ideal than that of the perfect love incarnate 
in Jesus Christ could ever satisfy these opposite 
needs. But love as we see it in the Man of 
Nazareth tenderly conversing with Thomas the 
doubter, is at once strong and tender, full of com- 
passion and nobility. The highest ideal possible 
to the human mind is revealed to us in Jesus 
Christ, who in giving himself for us, as our ran- 
som, finds in the very gift of himself his highest 
satisfaction. Oliver Wendell Holmes beautifully 
sings of the love divine, 

" That stoops to share 
Our sharpest pang, our bitterest tear. " 



118 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

It is this " love divine" which we find in Jesus 
Christ. In him we see revealed the God who will 
give himself for the world, who will suffer, who 
will love and forgive when reviled, and who did 
not stop short even at the cruel cross to ransom us 
from condemnation and make it possible for poor 
sinful men to be brought back to purity and 
heaven. 

The story is told of a heathen who was trans- 
lating for one of the missionaries a little book on 
the way of salvation, and when it came to the 
place where it was told that Christ's disciples are 
allowed to call God "Father," he was filled with 
the greatest wonder. It was almost impossible for 
him to believe it. Could it be true that the ter- 
rible Being whom he had often thought of as a 
horrible monster having a thousand hands, and in 
every hand a knife stained with human blood, was 
indeed a tender, loving father? Filled with joy 
at this new revelation, he begged of the mission- 
ary, " Let me write ' They will be permitted to kiss 
the feet of God.'" 

My dear friends, I preach to you this tender, 
pleading, sympathetic Christ who does not desire 
that any should perish, but whose heart is seeking 
after you with the highest love the world has ever 
seen. Do not, I pray you, harden your hearts 
against his sympathy and his tender seeking. Is 



THOMAS, THE DOUBTER, RECLAIMED. 119 

he not just the friend you need? So yield your 
hearts to him this very hour that afterward you 
shall be able to say, as David did so long ago (and 
no doubt Thomas has been joining with him in it 
for more than eighteen centuries around the throne 
of God), "Thy gentleness hath made me great." 

Dr. Dickinson, of Orange, preaching on this 
grateful saying of David the other day, well 
says that there are two things we ought to thank 
God for as Christians as we look back. One is 
that he did not let our sins go unpunished, and the 
other that he revealed his pardoning grace, and 
held before our tearful vision the hope of high 
achievement still. You remember Nathan's words 
to David, when by his faithful preaching he had 
convicted him of dreadful sin. He exclaimed, 
"Thou art the man." But the tenderness of God 
is revealed in Nathan's words immediately after, 
when, seeing the penitent's tears, he said, "The 
Lord also hath put away thy sin." Before Peter's 
downfall Christ revealed to him his coming shame 
and disgrace, but immediately after told him that 
he would rise again, and a great work be com- 
mitted to him. It is this divine Savior, strong in 
almighty power, but equally as strong in infinite 
tenderness and sympathy, that I beg you to accept 
as your Savior. The character of an eminent 
English lord was well summed up a few years ago 



120 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

at a London club, by a well-known writer, who, 
on the nobleman's leaving somewhat early, re- 
marked to a friend: "I have many friends who 
would be kind to me in distress, but only one who 
would be equally kind to me in disgrace, and he 
has just left the room." Such friends are rare, 
but Jesus Christ is a friend like that. He is 
worthy to be, in your heart of hearts, this very 
hour, crowned Lord over all. 

Do you ask me how you shall do this? My 
reply is, just take him at his word. Sandy Bates, 
a little Fresh Air boy, from his slum life of friend- 
lessness was sent out into the country for a short 
breathing spell, and his first Sunday there was one 
glad song of delight. He was in a Sunday-school 
class that day, and the teacher told the simple 
story of redeeming love. Eagerly the poor boy 
listened to the oft-told tale of the Babe cradled in 
the manger, of the sorrowful life and cruel death 
and the glorious resurrection of the Christ. The 
old, old story was wonderfully new to the boy, 
and the passage of Scripture which he read and 
memorized that day made it plain to him. The 
week that followed was the brightest Sandy had 
ever known. The next time the Sunday-school 
teacher saw him, Sandy bubbled over with the fact 
that he now belonged to Jesus. " Are you sure?" 
asked the teacher, fearful that the child did not 



THOMAS, THE DOUBTER, RECLAIMED. 121 

understand what he was saying. " Just as sure as 
that my name is Sandy Bates," was the instant 
response. "How do you know that he has ac- 
cepted you?" urged the teacher. "Why, I just 
took him at his word; for when he told me to 
come unto him, I knew he meant it, and I am 
sure he will not go back on his word," replied 
Sandy, with glistening eyes. 

Oh, my friend, throw your pride to the winds, 
and with the simplicity of a little child find in 
Jesus Christ forgiveness for your sins and peace 
for your weary heart ! 



SIMON PETER, THE FISHERMAN. 



"Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing." — John 

xx i. 3 (Revised Version). 

Peter had been a fisherman from his youth up. 
His father was a fisherman before him. He was 
down by the sea engaged, with his brothers, mend- 
ing their nets when Christ first called him to be 
his disciple. The Savior came along and stopped 
to look on the vigorous young men for a moment, 
though he had undoubtedly had some acquaint- 
ance with them before, and said to them, " Come, 
follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." 
They had been following Jesus, learning the art of 
service from the Great Teacher. But the marvel- 
ous transactions of the past few weeks had left 
them in a wondering state of uncertainty. The 
arrest and trial of Jesus, his cruel death on the 
cross, and his triumphant resurrection from the 
dead, with his after-appearances, had led them 
through a series of emotions that had stirred their 
hearts to their profoundest depths. While these 
later days were in a sense glad days, because they 
were now assured of the triumph of their Master 
122 



SIMON PETER, THE FISHERMAN. 123 



over the grave, they were yet days of bewilder- 
ment. One afternoon, as the evening came on, 
Simon Peter started up and said to the rest of the 
little company, " I go a fishing. " And several of 
the others declared their intention of going with 
him. It was not that they had the slightest idea 
of turning from their discipleship to Christ, but 
that for the moment they did not know what to 
do, and Peter solved the problem of occupying 
their minds and relaxing the strained tension on 
their nerves by going back for the night to their 
old calling. Whenever Christ should have need 
of them, they were ready at his call. They fished 
all night and had poor luck, for through all its 
hours they caught nothing. When the morning 
came Jesus stood on the shore, and called out to 
them, inquiring as to their fortune in the fishing, 
and if they had yet any meat, and they answered 
him, "No." Then the Lord directs where they 
shall cast the net, and on their obeying his word 
it is filled with fish. 

This is not the first time Jesus had given them 
directions in regard to the fishing. On another 
occasion Christ borrowed Peter's boat for a pulpit, 
when the people thronged about him in great mul- 
titudes. In order to get a better chance to speak 
to them he had Peter pull out a little from land, 
and there he preached to them the word of life. 



124 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

When the sermon was over the Savior asked 
Peter to go out into deep water and let down the 
nets for a draught. It so happened that it was a 
morning just after another such a night's bad fish- 
ing, and Peter said to the Lord that they had been 
out all night and had not taken anything, "But," 
he added, " nevertheless, at thy word I will let down 
the nets." Dr. McKenzie says that Christ was 
testing Peter's heart at this time to see whether 
he was ready to obey his Master. If this be so, 
Peter stood the test well. He was ready to take 
the risk of being called a fool by the people and 
his fisher friends, who watched his strange pro- 
ceedings from the shore. And the only reason 
which he can give to himself or J esus is, " At thy 
word." 

This is the appropriate motto for every Chris- 
tian life. People who have not come to know 
Jesus Christ can not understand this attitude of 
the Christian. But every one who has become 
acquainted with Jesus finds that a simple, child- 
like obedience to him marvelously simplifies life. 
There is nothing more certain in Christian experi- 
ence than that the habit of obeying Christ makes 
life wondrously calm and clear. The habit of dis- 
obedience to the known will of Jesus makes men 
deaf and blind, and it is not long before that will 
is unheard and unseen. The very first character- 



SIMON PETER, THE FISHERMAN. 



125 



istic of the successful Christian fisherman must be 
simple and genuine obedience to Christ. The fact 
that we are ourselves true to the core to the Christ 
whom we proclaim to others, makes our teaching 
tell; it gives an accent of sincerity, of certainty, 
in dealing with others which that person whose 
exhortations are haunted and made hollow by 
memories of disobedience can never have. If we 
are going to be "fishers of men" we must make 
" At thy word" the working motto of our lives. 

A great many professed Christian people find it 
impossible to bring others into the kingdom be- 
cause they are not really in the kingdom them- 
selves. There is a vast difference between an 
intellectual assent to the great doctrines of Chris- 
tianity, and an amiable admiration of the person 
and character of Jesus Christ, and the new birth 
which Jesus declares to be the condition of en- 
trance into the kingdom of God. This is too 
serious a matter to be deceived about. Do not let 
the fact that you have been reared in a Christian 
family, that you have grown up in the Sunday- 
school, or that your name is on the church record, 
deceive you for a moment as to your real condition 
before God. Ask yourself, I entreat you, heart- 
searching questions. Are you conscious that your 
sins are forgiven through faith in the Lord Jesus 
Christ? Are you living a prayerful life, having 



126 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

fellowship and communion with Jesus Christ? 
Are you seeking above all things that your life 
shall be pleasing to him? Are you burdened for 
the souls of others? If not, do not let any false 
pride keep you from the Mercy Seat ; but by sin- 
cere penitence and faith seek the Lord with your 
whole heart. Then, as Christ said to Peter, when 
you are yourself converted you will be able to be 
of help to your brethren. 

Rev. Arthur Finlayson tells an interesting 
story of a soldier during the War of the Rebellion. 
He was a strong young man and was ordered on am- 
bulance duty. He had to carry the wounded from 
the field of battle. At Chancellorsville the ground 
was strewn with all sorts of things which the men 
flung away so as not to be cumbered in the fight. 
While the soldier was helping to carry away the 
wounded, he picked up a little book from the 
trampled road. He put it in his pocket, as he had 
no time to see what it was. Soon after he came 
to a wounded man, and was about to carry him 
off the field to the hospital, but the surgeon said it 
was useless, as the man was dying. Presently 
the dying soldier turned his eyes on the healthy 
man, and as he did so he gasped, "Pray for me; 
I am dying ; pray for me !" The soldier in attend- 
ance was a brave young fellow and very anxious 
to help his dying comrade, but he could only with 



SIMON PETER, THE FISHERMAN. 127 

shame stammer out: "I can not; I don't pray for 
myself!" "But," pleaded the other in a low 
moan, "you must pray for me; I am dying." 
The young soldier was in deep distress. For the 
first time for }'ears he wanted to pray. What 
could he do? In his trouble he thought of the 
book he had picked up. What was it? He drew 
it from his pocket. It was a copy of " The Sol- 
dier's Prayer-Book," put out by some ministers in 
Philadelphia. In his despair the young man 
opened it, and found, to his joy, on the first torn 
and muddy page, a prayer for a dying soldier. 
The strong, healthy fellow uncovered his head, 
and with solemn feelings reverently read the 
prayer for his dying comrade. The Holy Spirit 
seemed to bless the words to the man's comfort 
and soon after he peacefully breathed his last. 
The young soldier was speedily called to attend 
to other wounded comrades, but he never forgot 
that death-scene. He felt so ashamed that, tho 
his duty was to attend the sick and wounded, he 
could be of no use to a dying soldier. He learned 
the great value of prayer, and became convinced 
that a man who can not pray is powerless in the 
battle of life. He was afterward taken captive 
and carried to a prison in Richmond. Away from 
the excitement of the battle-field, the Spirit of 
God visited him. He saw that his past life had 



128 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

been full of sin ; he had lived without prayer. He 
was filled with distress, and in the solitude of the 
prison he raised his heart and voice to God. He 
found the value and the power of prayer. He 
became a changed man, and could pray with his 
fellow-soldiers and lead them to Jesus. The news 
was speedily sent home to his praying wife, and 
great was her joy to find that her husband had be- 
come a praying Christian. But though rejoicing 
in the light of the Gospel, he never forgot the day 
when he was obliged to say with shame to a dying 
comrade, " I can not pray !" 

Put the question to yourself. What could you 
do in a case like that? If you were calling on 
some of your acquaintances and you were to find 
them in great distress about their soul's salvation, 
and they were to ask you to pray for them then 
and there, are you so living a life of prayer that 
it would come natural and easy for you to do it? 
Or would you have to sit there shamed and hum- 
bled before them and say, " I can not pray !" 

There is another point that is equally important 
to the Christian who is called to be a fisherman 
for Jesus Christ (and that is a call which comes 
to every Christian in the world). It is that we 
shall live such lives that the people who know us 
would in times of trouble or in times of anxiety 
about their salvation have so much faith in the 



SIMON PETER, THE FISHERMAN. 129 

genuineness of our religion that they would natu- 
rally seek us out and ask us to pray for and with 
them. That is a question of infinite seriousness 
which it would be well for every one of us to put 
to our inmost soul : " Am I living such a life that 
the people who know me and are acquainted with 
my business relations, with my conduct in society, 
with my sorrows and my pleasures, with the tone 
of my conversation and the things which interest 
me most, can not help but believe that I am so 
personally acquainted with Jesus Christ, and have 
the welfare of his kingdom so on my heart, that 
in any time of great emergency when they wanted 
the sympathy of a sincere Christian and such an 
one to pray for them they would naturally come 
to me?" That is a question that will go to the 
very core of your being. If, after serious thought 
and prayerful, heart-searching meditation, you can 
humbly and gratefully answer it in the affirma- 
tive, then there is no person on earth or in heaven 
who has a greater right or a greater cause to 
be thankful and glad than yourself. But if, on 
the other hand, the question shames you and you 
stand abashed before it, and you are conscious 
that your life has been so indifferent and careless 
of the claims of Jesus, that it has been so prayer- 
less, so given up to earthly things, that people who 

would ask your advice about many other things 
9 



130 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

would never dream of coming to you to ask you 
to pray for them in the agony of repentance or the 
awful emergency of the dying hour, then I beg 
you to humble yourself before the truth of God. 

I fear that many people make very light excuses 
for themselves for not giving more self-denying 
effort to save the unconverted who are about them. 
They average themselves alongside of other pro- 
fessed Christians who do not do any better than 
they. What folly is that ! As if anybody else's 
failure could make our own the less terrible ! Our 
obligation is to do our very best, without reference 
to what others may do or not do. 

I have just been reading a wonderful story of 
how Edward Spencer, the brother of Dr. Spencer 
of the Methodist Church Extension Society, saved 
seventeen lives in the awful wreck of the Lady 
Elgin on Lake Michigan in 1860. It was a ter- 
rible wreck. Out of four hundred passengers, only 
thirty came through the breakers alive; and of 
these young Spencer saved seventeen. He was 
never a very strong young man, but he had been 
brought up on the banks of the Mississippi River, 
and was so skilful a swimmer that he was almost 
as much at home in the water as on the land. 
With a rope tied around his waist in order that 
his body might be recovered in case he should be 
killed by the floating wreckage, for six hours he 



SIMON PETER, THE FISHERMAN. 131 

went backward and forward saving human lives. 
It was a wonderful day's work. The last person 
saved that day was a man who was coming 
ashore in a difficult part of the surf, where the 
bank was high and precipitous. Any one reach- 
ing the shore there would be pounded to death on 
the steep bank. Those who came to this part of 
the surf were absolutely lost, as it seemed more 
than a man's life was worth to save them. Young 
Spencer saw this man, with one arm clinging to a 
piece of wreck, and in the other arm what was 
supposed to contain silver plate, or a bag of gold, 
or some other precious thing wrapped up in a bit of 
clothing. A sudden lift of the waves brought the 
man and the bit of wreckage to which he clung 
into full view, and there streamed out from the 
bundle the tresses of a woman's hair. Then 
Spencer knew that the man was attempting to 
save his wife, and, although already greatly worn, 
he said to those about him : " Cost what it may, 
I will save that man or die in the attempt." He 
ran down the beach, following the retreating 
wave, knelt down as closely as possible to the 
sand, and let the return wave pound him. When 
next seen he was far out in the water. He swam 
to the piece of raft to which the two were cling- 
ing. When within six or eight feet of them, the 
man cried out : " Save my wife ! Save my wife !" 



132 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



The brave young swimmer said : " Yes, I will save 
your wife and you, too." Fastening his hands in 
their clothing at the back of their necks, he said : 
"I can sustain you in the water, but you must 
swim for your lives and mine. We must push up 
northward to get beyond this dangerous surf if we 
are to be saved at all." To the joy of the on-look- 
ing spectators he came safely to shore with both 
the unfortunates for whom he had so bravely im- 
periled his life. The daily papers were full of 
his praises. The illustrated papers of New York 
and London contained his picture; but when he 
was alone with his brother in their own room, 
he fastened his great hungry eyes on him and 
said: "Tell me the truth, Will; everybody praises 
me. Tell me the truth. Did I fail to do my 
best?" He did not ask, "Did I do as well as 
somebody else?" That went without asking. He 
did not ask, "Did I do as well as two hundred 
others?" He did better than that. He did not 
ask, "Did I do as well as any man on earth?" 
No, no. He remembered the haggard faces of 
those who were lost, whom he was not able to 
save! The question that ran through him like a 
poisoned dagger as he remembered the three hun- 
dred and more who lost their lives in sight of land 
was, "Did I do my best?" 
Dear friends, that is the question that you and 



SI3I0N PETER, THE FISHERMAN. 133 

I must put to ourselves at the close of every day. 
There are so many that are being swept from their 
moorings by temptation and sin, so many whose 
vessels are being dashed to pieces, and they float 
about us within sight of our churches, clinging 
piteously to their little pieces of broken wreckage, 
soon to go down in darkness and despair unless 
somebody is brave enough and big-hearted enough 
to save them. Let us not be satisfied with meas- 
uring ourselves by anybody else, but let the su- 
preme question that rings in our ears in the midst 
of these priceless opportunities be, " Did I do my 
best?" Nothing less than that will satisfy us in 
the dying hour ; nothing less than that wil lsatisf y 
us when we stand before the judgment seat at 
last. 

There is no joy so sweet on earth or in heaven 
as the joy of bringing home those who have been 
lost. Our Savior has told us that there is great 
joy in heaven over one sinner that repents. The 
story is told of an Arctic traveler who was hunt- 
ing after beaver while the ice was breaking up. 
He was far away from human habitations and had 
no reason to believe that there was a human being 
within a hundred miles of him. But hearing the 
ice crack he looked up and suddenly beheld a 
lost man who had gone mad through hunger and 
cold and was wading in the icy water. The ex- 



134 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

plorer persuaded the poor man to get into his 
canoe and made as rapidly as he could for the 
nearest land. As he drew near to the shore he 
saw to his astonishment that a great many people 
were gathered as if waiting for him. All the is- 
landers had been looking for the lost man, and on 
seeing him approach in the canoe all the bells were 
rung and the guns were fired, and there was great 
rejoicing. And the hunter who had brought him 
back shared in it all, and they showered gifts and 
thanks upon him and could not do enough for him 
to express their thanksgiving. If you want to 
make happiness on earth and in heaven, and lay 
up treasures that shall endure forever, seek after 
the wanderer and bring him home to God. 



SWIMMING FOR CHRIST. 



"That disciple therefore whom Jesus loved saith unto 
Peter, It is the Lord. So when Simon Peter heard that it 
was the Lord, he girt his coat about him .... and cast 
himself into the sea."— John xxi. 7, 8 {Revised Version). 

Some years since Mr. J. K. Nutting painted 
this picture in a little poem, the very simplicity of 
which ought to impress the scene most effectively 
on our minds and hearts : — 

Simon Stone, he spied a boat. 

" Oh, here is a boat 1" cried Simon Stone. 
" I've a mind to try if this boat will float ; 

I'll fish a spell, if I go alone. " 

"Oh, no!" said the rest. " We are going, too." 

"Then jump aboard," said Simon Stone. 
They sprang to the boat, a happy crew. 

Wouldn't you like to have counted one? 

They rowed and they rowed, they sailed and they sailed ; 

"Small luck, small luck," said Simon Stone. 
They tried and tried, and they failed and failed, 

Till they ached in every muscle and bone. 

135 



136 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



They dipped and dipped, and they hauled and hauled ; 

" Not a fin for our pains, " said Simon Stone. 
"Hark !" cried one, for somebody called, 

"Who can be out on the shore alone?" 

"Never mind who, pull away, pull away !" 

"Let's give it up," said Simon Stone ; 
"We have fished all night, we have fished all day. 

Let's quit ; I'm going ashore for one." 

Then the strange voice called from the shore again. 

"Listen ! listen !" said Simon Stone. 
And now in the dawn they see him, plain, 

Walking along the shore alone. 

"Boys, have you anything there to eat?" 

"Not a fin nor a scale," said Simon Stone ; 
" Not a crumb of bread, not a morsel of meat, 

Not a thing to offer a hungry one. " 

"Throw the net to starboard, and then you'll find," 
Cried the voice. "Let's do it," said Simon Stone. 

So they dropped the net with willing mind. 
"Heave, ho ! There's a haul," cried every one. 

They tugged and they hauled, but they hauled in vain. 

"Let's drag it ashore," said Simon Stone. 
So they dragged and dragged with might and main. 

"It's the Lord," spoke softly Cousin John. 

"What !" " What !" " What !" cried the rest in the boat. 

"What's that you're saying?" quoth Simon Stone. 
" The Lord ! Why, here, then, give me my coat. " 

In a trice he had it, and had it on. 



SWIMMING FOR CHRIST. 137 



"Why, what in the world are you going to do?" 

"I'm going ashore," said Simon Stone, 
As he sprang, without any more ado, 

Overboard into the sea alone. 

Then the rest, they looked and said with a smile, 
" "What a man, to be sure, is Simon Stone ! 

He's up to some queer thing all the while." 
" How he loves the Lord !" said Cousin John. 

Oh ! he swam for life, and he swam for love, 
Till he stood on the shore with the Lord alone. 

Who knows, but he and the Lord above, 
How the Lord spake sweet to Simon Stone? 

Then tell me if ever you loved like him, 

If ever you felt like Simon Stone : 
"Whether I run or fly or swim, 

I must have a word with the Lord alone." 



I think it is very suggestive that John was the 
first one to know that it was the Lord. We have 
no reason to believe that John was as quick- 
minded as Peter, or that he was as learned a man 
as Nathanael; but he loved the Lord better than 
any of them. It was the intuition of love that 
made him know at once, when they had cast the 
net and found it immediately filled with fishes, 
that they were acting under the direction of the 
kindness and love of Jesus. Love makes us 
quick to hear the voice or to detect the form of 



138 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

one whom we love. As Dr. MacLaren says, in a 
sermon on this paragraph concerning John's de- 
tection of Christ, in religious matters love is the 
foundation of knowledge. A man can not argue 
his way into knowing Christ. Man's natural ca- 
pacity within its own limits is strong and good ; 
but in the region of acquaintance with God and 
Christ, the wisdom of this world is foolishness. 
" He that loveth not, knoweth not God, for God 
is love." Love will trace him everywhere, as dear 
friends detect each other in little marks which are 
meaningless to others. Love's quick eye pierces 
through disguises impenetrable to a colder scru- 
tiny. Love has in it a longing for his presence 
which makes us eager and quick to mark the 
slightest sign that he is near; as the footstep of 
some dear one is heard by the sharp ear of affec- 
tion long before any sound breaks the silence to 
others. Love leads to likeness to the Lord, and 
that likeness makes the clearer vision of the Lord 
possible. This is the secret of John's first knowl- 
edge of the presence of Christ on the shore. John 
had the most tender and intimate friendship with 
Christ. Their fellowship was evidently closer than, 
any of the others in that little group. It was John 
who leaned his head upon the Savior's breast at 
the last supper, and when Peter desired to ask a 
question of Christ on that occasion he confided it 



SWIMMING FOR CHRIST. 



139 



to John and asked him to inquire of the Lord. It 
was to John that Jesus entrusted the care of his 
mother in the midst of his agony on the cross. 
When we reflect on all this, we are not astonished 
that John's sensitive heart was the first to know 
the presence of Christ. Much blessed knowledge 
came to John through this same higher sense of 
love. It is John who declares to us in his epistles, 
" We know that we have passed from death unto 
life, because we love the brethren." "We know 
that when he shall appear we shall be like him." 

Again he declares, " We know that he abideth 
in us." Oh, that the divine love may possess our 
hearts, and our affection for Jesus be so simple and 
pure that we shall be sensitive to his presence. 
Well the poet sings, — • 

"Nothing is true but love, or aught of worth ; 
Love is the incense which doth sweeten earth. 
O merchant, at heaven's mart for heavenly ware, 
Love is the only coin which passes there. 
The wine of love can be obtained of none 
Save him who trod the wine-press all alone." 

But the great lesson of our theme, the one which 
I wish to impress upon your hearts with all the 
simplicity and power God shall give me, is the 
complete self-surrender of Peter in leaving the 
boat, his companions, and the net full of fishes, 



140 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



and casting himself overboard into the sea, swim- 
ming for Christ as the one great goal of his life. 
That is the way of salvation. If you are a poor 
sinner against God, and you are anxious to know 
how you may find the way out of your sins into 
the kingdom of God, my advice is that you follow 
Peter's example. Jump overboard and swim for 
Christ! Christ has said, "Whosoever will" may 
come. It is all then in your will. Frances Wil- 
lard says, "Will is the king-bolt of the faculties." 
The necessary thing for you to do to make sure of 
your salvation is to say from the depths of your 
heart, " By the help of God I will cut loose from 
everything that stands in the way and take Jesus 
Christ to be my Savior. It will seem easy enough 
when once you have jumped overboard, leaving 
worldly things behind, and begun to swim toward 
Christ and the safe shore-line of a Christian life. 

Mr. B. Fay Mills tells the story of a young lady 
who was deeply concerned about her spiritual in- 
terest, and after a severe struggle started to visit 
her pastor to ask him to show her the way of life. 
As she entered the horse-car, in carrying out her 
purpose, she saw seated there several of her 
friends, who asked where she was going. The 
tempter immediately said : " Don't tell them where 
you are going, but answer them in some evasive 
way." At the same time the Spirit whispered to 



SWIMMING FOR CHRIST. 141 



her : " Be brave and conscientious about this. Tell 
them of your purpose, and ask them to go with 
you." She obeyed the voice of God. Her friends 
declined to accompany her, and she went on alone. 
When she came to the minister's house he came 
to the door to meet her. She paused from embar- 
rassment for an instant, and then said : " Doctor, I 
started to come to see you to ask you to lead me to 
Christ ; but now that I am here I have come to tell 
you I have found Christ." It was with her as 
with some whom Jesus healed during his ministry 
on earth — " As they went they were cleansed." It 
may be so with you to-night if you will arise to 
come home to God. 

I have recently reread the story of how Judson, 
the great missionary, was converted from infidelity 
to Christ. He was a brilliant young man and had 
been reared in a Christian home; but in college he 
came under the influence of a young man as bril- 
liant as himself who destroyed his Christian faith. 
His father and mother were broken-hearted when 
he came home with the announcement of his in- 
fidel sentiments. He broke the sorrowful news to 
them just before starting on a long pleasure-trip 
thorugh New England and New York. He never 
forgot the grief -burdened utterances of his father 
and the silent tears of his mother at the family 
altar on the morning of his departure. In the 



142 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

course of his journey he stopped one night at a 
country hotel. As the landlord showed him to his 
room he apologized for placing him next to a sick 
man who might be dying. Judson assured him it 
would make no difference. He put out his light 
and got into bed, but the sounds from the sick- 
room fastened upon his ear and suggested the most 
agitating reflections. Was the dying man prepared 
for the change that awaited him? He blushed as 
he felt the faith of his childhood again creeping 
over him. Prepared! What preparation was 
needed for an eternal sleep? But still the ques- 
tion would return : into what scenes is his spirit 
to pass? The landlord had spoken of him as a 
young man. Was he a Christian or, like himself, 
a skeptic, the source of unutterable sorrow to pious 
parents? What were the feelings of the dying 
youth in this testing hour? What would be his 
own in like situation? Suppose he were now 
stretched on the bed of death, could he look with 
philosophic calmness toward the final moment, 
sure that the next instant his soul with all its ca- 
pacities for joy and sorrow would have gone out 
like an extinguished candle? Ah! there was a 
shuddering in his soul which prophesied of a 
future either of conscious bliss and love or of just 
retribution. He tried to rouse himself from these 
fears by recalling the arguments which once had 



SWIMMING FOR CHRIST. 



143 



seemed so convincing. But they would not work 
there in the dark with the tragedy of death being 
enacted a few feet away. He thought of his in- 
fidel friends and asked what they would think of 
such weakness, especially the witty and brilliant 
friend who had been the chief agent in leading 
him to throw over the faith of his father and 
mother. The poor youth cowered in his bed as he 
imagined the pitying smile and the keen shafts of 
ridicule with which that firm mind would meet 
such nursery superstitions. But all would not do, 
and through the whole night his spirit was tossed 
upon a restless sea of disquietude and doubt. But 
when the morning came he sprang up relieved and 
was ready to smile at what he deemed the fancies 
of the night. On leaving his room he went im- 
mediately to the landlord with kind inquiries after 
the sick man. "He is dead," was the reply. 
" Dead !" " Yes, he is gone, poor fellow ; the doc- 
tor thought he could not survive the night." " Do 
you know his name?" "Oh, yes! he was from 
Brown University ; a fine young fellow ; his name 

was E ," mentioning the name of Judson's 

brilliant friend who had led him away from 
Christ. He needed no one to preach to him in 
that hour on the evidences of Christianity. He 
felt all his infidelity slipping away from him and 
he despised it as a lie. He went to his room and 



144 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

spent hours in a state of wretchedness bordering 
on stupefaction. The words, "Dead! Lost! 
Lost!" rang continually in his ears. He gave 
up his intended trip, and said, in the language 
of another poor prodigal who also found the 
husks bitter, "I will arise and go to my father." 
In the hour of his spiritual distress he could 
think of no place so good for him as the old 
home fireside, with his Christian father and 
mother. If he had gone on with his trip he would 
probably have grieved the Holy Spirit and would 
soon have hardened his heart against the gracious 
influences that had come to him, but his decision 
to go back home at once and tell his father and 
mother about his change of purpose was his salva- 
tion, and led to his happy conversion and glorious 
life. 

If there are any who hear me at this hour 
to whom the Holy Spirit brings the message of 
warning and invitation, I implore you to follow 
Judson's example, and come home at once without 
delay. Do not try to seek the Lord secretly. 
Christ asks you for an open confession, and you 
owe it to him. How little it is in return for his 
great love ! 

At a religious meeting in the south of London 
a timid little girl wanted to be prayed for; she 
wanted to come to Jesus, and said to the Christian 



SWIMMING FOR CHRIST. 145 



man who was conducting the meeting, " Will you 
pray for me in the meeting, please? But do not 
mention my name." In the meeting which fol- 
lowed, when every head was howed and there was 
perfect silence, the gentleman prayed for the little 
girl who wanted to come to J esus, and he said, 
" O Lord, there is a little girl who does not want 
her name known, but thou dost know her; save 
her precious soul !" There was stillness for a mo- 
ment, and then away back in the congregation 
a little girl rose, and a pleading little voice said, 
"Please, it's me, Jesus; it's me." She did not 
want to have a doubt. The more she had thought 
about it the hungrier her heart was for forgive- 
ness. She wanted to be saved, and she was not 
ashamed to rise in that meeting, little girl as she 
was, and say, "Jesus, it's me." 

I invite you with all the tenderness of this 
blessed Gospel to come to Christ with the same 
childlike courage and simplicity. 
10 



A BKEAKFAST WITH JESUS. 



"Jesus saith unto them, Come and break your fast." — 
John xx i. 12 {Revised Version) . 

"So when they had broken their fa6t, Jesus saith to 
Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, lovest thou me more 
than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou know- 
est that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs." 
— John xxi. 15, 16 (Revised Version). 

The Gospel according to St. John is the love- 
* story of Jesus Christ and his disciples. Yes, it is 
more than that; it is the love-story of Jesus Christ 
and the whole lost world. What a sweet picture 
this is which we are to study together ! We are 
on the shore of the little Sea of Galilee. It is in 
the beautiful Syrian springtime. The lake is clear 
and calm, lying there in the peculiar quiet of the 
early dawn. Away stretch the high - reaching 
slopes up to the lonely heights where the sheep 
are still in their folds, waiting for the shepherd to 
lead them out for the day's grazing. Here is a 
boat drawing nigh to land. Six excited and 
happy men are in it, for Peter has just jumped 
overboard, and swum ashore for a first word alone 
with his Master. There he stands dripping from 
146 



A BREAKFAST WITH JESUS. 147 



his plunge in the lake, but glowing with joy and 
gladness at his conversation with the Lord. As 
the others draw near, they are astonished to be- 
hold a bright fire of coals there beside the water, 
and fish laid thereon, and bread. What an appe- 
tizing picture for seven hungry men ! They have 
been fishing since yesterday afternoon, working 
all night long, and until just now, when they had 
cast their nets under the Lord's command, had 
taken nothing, and are in a good condition to ap- 
preciate such a sight. 

Did you ever camp out? Did you ever pitch 
your tent beside a lake away from human habi- 
tations? Have you ever listened to the howl of 
the wolf or the boom of the night-hawk the last 
thing before you went to sleep, and awakened 
with the first flush of dawn to hear the birds sing 
their anthem of thanksgiving; plunged in the 
cool water and come out with every nerve tingling 
with life; watched the breakfast cooking on the 
coals in the open air and then ate it with an ap- 
petite such as no dining-room of man's construc- 
tion ever gave? If you have not, there is a little 
touch of possible appreciation in this picture which 
you do not understand, and I extend to you my 
sincere sympathies. 

As the other disciples gathered round the fire, 
Jesus said to them, " Bring of the fish which ye 



148 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

have now taken." Then Peter, generous, big- 
hearted fellow, willing to give the rest a chance to 
talk with the Lord and quick to do what would 
please him, went and drew the net to land. Fisher- 
man that he was, he counted the fish and found 
there were one hundred and fifty-three by actual 
count. 

There is a little touch right here that I like very 
much. Christ had already prepared breakfast for 
them, and the fish and the bread-cakes were all 
there smoking hot upon the coals; but he knows 
they will enjoy the breakfast far more if they have 
a share in getting it, and also no doubt desires to 
teach them that in his great mission he has need 
of their assistance, and so he tells them to bring 
some of their own fish which they have just caught 
that more may be cooking while they are eating 
what is now ready. So we may be sure Christ has 
need of us in his sublime work of feeding the hun- 
gry souls of men and saving humanity from starv- 
ing for lack of spiritual food. He desires each 
one of us to assist him and to make our contribu- 
tion of our own particular talent and ability. 

Our good neighbor, Dr. Dixon, tells the story of 
a farmer some miles above Milton, Pa., who, 
when the ice was breaking up, got into one of his 
boats with the purpose of pulling it out of the river. 
But just then a floating mass of ice struck it, 



A BREAKFAST WITH JESUS. 



149 



broke it loose from the bank, and carried both 
the boat and the farmer out into the current. 
A neighbor who saw the man's great danger 
mounted his fastest horse and rode as tight as he 
could run down to Milton. He scattered the news 
everywhere, and the people of the town hunted up 
all the ropes they could find and suspended lines 
of rope over the bridge, stretching clear across the 
river. They could not tell at just what point the 
boat with the farmer would pass under, so they 
put a rope down every two or three feet, clear 
across. By and by the farmer was seen, wet and 
cold, standing in the boat half full of water, drift- 
ing down the rapid current. When he saw the 
ropes dangling within reach, he didn't stop to ask 
any questions or make any conditions, but he just 
caught hold of the first rope he saw, the one that 
was nearest to him, and was drawn up and saved. 
Of course one rope might have been in the right 
place and have rescued him, but the people of 
Milton were not willing to take any chances when 
so much was at stake. So Christ wants us, every 
one, to have a hand in the salvation of lost souls. 
How aptly this illustration applies to the work in 
which we are engaged at present! In these re- 
vival meetings it is possible, of course, that the rope 
of salvation which I shall hang out in the sermon 
shall come near enough for some imperiled souls to 



150 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

grasp it and be saved, but if every member of this 
church would get out their tackle and by Christian 
devotion, by prayer and conversation, and personal 
seeking, would throw out their life-lines of hope, 
how the number of the saved would be multiplied ! 

There is in this lesson a very sweet thought of 
the rich joy of fellowship which God has made it 
possible for us to rejoice in. How sweet is the 
fellowship of the family and home ! Among the 
many definitions of happiness there is one by Dr. 
Oliver Wendell Holmes that has become a fa- 
vorite. " Happiness," said the sweet-souled Auto- 
crat, "is four feet on a fender." The true poetry 
of the meaning can not be lost on any one who 
thinks. Holmes liked it so much that he often re- 
ferred to it, and when his beloved wife who had 
been his lifelong companion had left him for a 
better world, and an old friend came in to condole 
with him, he said, with a shake of his good gray 
head, "Only two feet on the fender now." That 
is the shadow which falls over all the sweet fellow- 
ships of earth. The only silver lining to the cloud 
is the radiant promise of a happy reunion in the 
immortal life. The life of Jesus Christ, entering 
into the fellowship of our humanity as it does, 
brings to us the assurance of the divine fellowship 
with a sweeter realism than could ever have been 
possible without the incarnation. The possibility 



A BREAKFAST WITH JESUS. 151 



of personal friendship with Jesus Christ, of shar- 
ing with him life's sorrows and trials, as well 
as its work and its joy, is the dearest privilege of 
the Christian. How clearly Christ sets it forth in 
his invitation to all who are weary and heavy- 
laden to enter into a yoke-fellowship with him! 
Mark Guy Pearse tells how he once preached a 
sermon on the text, " Come unto me all ye that 
labor and are heavy laden. . . . Take my yoke 
upon you. . . . For my yoke is easy, and my 
burden is light." When the sermon was over, a 
man came to him and said : " I wish I had known 
what you were going to preach about, I could 
have told you something." "Well, my friend," 
Mr. Pearse said, " it is very good of you. May I 
not have it still?" "Do you know why his yoke 
is light, sir? If not, I think I can tell you." 
" Well, because the good Lord helps us to carry it, 
I suppose." "No, sir," he explained, shaking his 
head ; " I think I know better than that. You 
see, when I was a boy at home, I used to drive the 
oxen in my father's yoke. Father's yokes were 
always made heavier on one side than the other. 
Then, you see, we would put a weak bullock in 
alongside of a strong bullock, and the light end 
would come on the weak bullock, because the 
stronger one had the heavy part of it on his shoul- 
der." Then his face lit up as he said, "That is 



152 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

why the yoke is easy and the burden is light — be- 
cause the Lord's yoke is made after the same pat- 
tern, and the heavy end is upon his shoulder." No 
wonder that in such fellowship men find rest unto 
their souls ! 

Altho Christ and the disciples ate of the fish 
and the bread, the sweetest food they had that 
morning was their tender conversation and their 
loving fellowship together. The true food of the 
Christian is fellowship with Christ and the saints 
in loving communion and service. How much of 
this delicious food the Bible gives us! As another 
well says, the power of the Bible over our hearts 
rests in the fact that it was history before it was a 
record; it was human life before it was a book. 
True men walked with God, and what was done 
in them and by them was set down ; and as the 
result, the sacred Scriptures and their precious in- 
fluence on the life and heart of mankind are a more 
wonderful miracle than any recorded in its holy 
pages. Its power over the hearts of men increases 
rather than decreases as the years go on. If you 
want your soul fed with honey out of the rock and 
with the finest of the wheat, acquaint yourself 
daily with the nourishing food of God's Word. 
A recent writer says that he once heard President 
Finney, the greatest revivalist of his time, in the 
midst of a lecture, read or attempt to read a few of 



A BREAKFAST WITH JESUS. 153 



the words of Christ which are recorded in the New 
Testament. He broke down with weeping, but 
instantly apologized, saying that since his sick- 
ness he could not trust himself to read the words 
of Jesus in public. The divine Savior had per- 
sonally entered through his words into the deepest 
life of this man and had stirred in him emotions 
that tears alone could express. 

It is doubtless true that more Christians die 
from starvation than from any other cause. They 
starve not for lack of food, but from neglect of 
eating. And one of the first effects of negligence 
to eat is the loss of appetite. The starving Chris- 
tian never suffers from hunger. Many people on 
this account are self -deceived. They do not know 
their dangerous condition, and often persuade 
themselves that they are in good health when 
their spiritual life is really dying. The disciples 
of Christ were at onetime greatly astonished when, 
in reply to an invitation to eat, he said : " I have 
meat to eat that ye know not of." They said 
among themselves, " Hath any man brought him 
to eat?" Then Jesus saith unto them, "My meat 
is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish 
his work." This is the food for lack of which 
many professed Christians are perishing to-day. 
Doing the will of God, entering into fellowship 
with Jesus Christ, in service for the weak, in seek- 



154 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



ing after the lost, and in rescuing the perishing, 
satisfies the deepest hunger of the soul. It sus- 
tains life and gives strength, and there is nothing 
which yields so much in substantial joy. In the 
Christian life earnest, faithful work is food and 
idleness is starvation. 

The invitations to Christ's round-table of fel- 
lowship are so generous and free that no one need 
count himself out. "Whosoever will may come." 
It is not a man's social position, but the hunger of 
his soul, the crying out of his great need, that rec- 
ommends him to Jesus Christ. 

As Sophie Schenck beautifully sings : 

" He did not say — my Jesus never said, 

When, sick of sin, I sank upon my knees, 
"With streaming eyes and trembling hands outspread, 

Sobbing, 'Lord, help me, give my sad heart ease 1' — 
He did not say, 'Why empty come to me? 

Go hence and gather of the earth's rich store ! 
Pierce mines for gold, go search for gems the sea ! 

When thou hast gained my price, return once more. ' 

" He did not say — my Jesus never said, 

'Laden with guilt, how darest thou come to-day? 
Go cleanse thyself ; do penance great and dread, 

Then scarred and bleeding kneel to me and pray !' 
He said not so, my Jesus ! to my feet 

He drew me, while my trembling hands he prest, 
Then bending down he whispered ' Child, complete 

Thy pardon, come and on my bosom rest. ' 



A BREAKFAST WITH JESUS. 155 



" He did not say, my Jesus, ' Go, thy sin 

Condemns thee !' But I heard him sweetly say, 
'My blood effaced thy guilt ! New life begin, 

Lean hard and watch, I will return some day. ' 
Each hour I feel his arms 'beneath me' still, 

My timid hands lie closely in his own, 
To him I whisper low, when fearing ill, 

'Lord, help !' and straightway every ill has flown. 

"He bade me 'watch, ' and so for him watch I, 

But as days pass I smile, and count one less ; 
He will return, I know ; but when, and why, 

And how, I know not ! He will come to bless. 
When birds and roses cheer may be that time, 

Or when ice-jewels gleam, and piles the snow ; 
It matters not ! The heart's joy-bells will chime 

When Jesus comes, and I with him shall go." 

Fellowship with Jesus Christ is a food which 
can make us strong for the highest and noblest 
service. All food is for strength. We eat not 
only that we may have continued existence, but 
that we may have strength to work and bring 
about results. How suggestively it is stated here 
that after they had had their breakfast, and the 
hunger of Peter's body was not only satisfied but 
the hunger of his soul had been fed with this lov- 
ing conversation with Christ, the Savior immedi- 
ately began to lay out Peter's work for him. " Si- 
mon," he says, in substance, "do you love me more 
than the rest of these? Is that the reason why 



156 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

you couldn't wait to come with the others, but 
jumped overboard and swam to the shore to meet 
me?" And when Simon had answered that the 
Lord, knowing his heart, knew that he loved him, 
Christ said, "Feed my lambs." 

Divine food is given unto us not only that our 
own spiritual life may be made strong, but that 
we may feed the Savior's lambs. While this 
comes with force to every one of us, it ought to 
come with peculiar force to parents and to Sun- 
day-school teachers. No one except the father or 
mother has a better chance than the devoted Sun- 
day-school teacher to win young souls to Christ 
and feed them with the food from heaven. May 
the benediction of heaven fall upon all our Sun- 
day-school teachers during this special season of 
revival interest! There is no more responsible 
position, no more honorable place, no trust more 
sacred or fraught with more glorious opportunities 
than the charge of a Sunday-school class and the 
opportunity to win young souls to a genuine and 
sincere Christian life. Neither those Argonauts 
who sailed according to the old Hellenic myth 
on the good ship Argo, nor those later travelers 
round Cape Horn, to California, in search of the 
Golden Fleece, dreamed of a treasure so rich and 
imperishable as that which is within the reach 
of every faithful, self-denying Sunday-school 



A BREAKFAST WITH JESUS. 157 

teacher. You are the Argonauts of the higher 
realm. 

Fellowship with Christ and his people furnishes 
such food as makes heroes out of common material. 
An interesting incident is related of a flood in the 
Alabama River during the spring of 1886. The 
river overflowed its banks and spread desolation 
over great regions of country. The negroes in 
their little log cabins, so easily washed away, 
were the greatest sufferers. Relief expeditions 
were sent out from neighboring towns to rescue 
them. One day the news came that the negroes 
on a certain plantation had sought refuge upon a 
corn-barn, around which the water was rapidly 
rising, and so rendering their condition exceed- 
ingly dangerous. A boat came up to them just 
at night, when a heavy rain was falling. The 
top of the barn was covered with the poor people. 
When the boat struck against the frail log build- 
ing, which was in the water to the edges of the 
roof, the poor creatures commenced to clamber 
hurriedly down to the boat. "Stop!" cried the 
man in command, "the women and children 
first." The men obediently resumed their seats. 
They took in all the children and then the women, 
and were about pushing off, telling the men they 
would hurry back for them as quickly as possible, 
or send the first boat they met, when an old woman 



158 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



seized the corner of the house and, looking anx- 
iously into the leader's face, said, " Marster, ain't 
you gwine to take my ole man?" "No, auntie," 
he answered, " the boat is too full now, he must 
wait till we come back." 

The words were hardly out of his mouth, when 
with a sudden spring she was upon the roof 
again. It shook as she scrambled on it, and took 
her seat by a little withered old black man, whose 
hand she seized as if she feared they would tear 
her away from him. "Come, auntie," the man 
cried, "this won't do. We can't leave you here, 
and we can't wait any longer for you." " Go on, 
marster," she answered; "I thanks yer, en I pray 
de good Lawd to fetch you all safe home; but 
I gwine to stay wid my ole man. Ef Simon got 
to git drowned, Liddy gwine git drown too. We 
dun bin togedder too long to part now." And they 
had to leave her, after throwing some blankets and 
a bag of provisions to them. As they rowed off 
in the rain and the night, a high falsetto voice, 
tremulous with age, came across the waters from 
the corn-crib, where they had left the almost cer- 
tainly doomed group in the blackness of darkness, 
for they dared not have a light for fear of setting 
fire to their frail support. The pathos of that song 
as it came to them across the waters brought tears to 
the eyes of the rescuers. First Liddy 's trembling 



A BREAKFAST WITH JESUS. 159 



voice and then a chorus of a dozen or more of the 
deep bass voices of the men : 

"We're a clingin' to de ark, 

Take us in, take us in ; 
Fur de watah's deep en dark, 

Take us in, take us in ; 
Do de flesh is po' an' weak, 

Take us in, take us in ; 
'Tis de Lawd we gwinter seek, 

Take us in, take us in ; 
Den, Lawd, hoi' out dy han\ 

Take us in, take us in ; 
Draw de sinnahs to de Lara', 

'Take us in, take us in." 

Most fortunately, the first party came across a 
boat bent upon the same errand as themselves, 
which went immediately to the barn and saved all 
of its living freight. The building had appar- 
ently been held down by their weight, for, as the 
last one left, it turned over and floated away to 
the Gulf. The rescuers said that, as they drew 
near it, the first sound they heard was an old 
woman's voice singing, — 

"De Lawd is hyah'd our cry." 

Answered by the men, — 

" Take us in, take us in, 
En he'll save us by en by, 
Take us in, take us in. " 



160 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



It is the joy of my heart to preach to you a di- 
vine compassion and a heavenly fellowship that 
can come into poor, ignorant, untaught human 
hearts, and make heroes like these of them. 



THE GIFT OF POWER. 



"But ye shall receive power, when the Holy Ghost is 
come upon you. " — Acts i. 8 (Revised Version) . 

Power is what we want — power to stay the tide 
of sin and iniquity; power to make men pause 
and consider the certain disaster of the downward 
path ; power to arouse men who are asleep in tres- 
passes and in sins ; power to clutch the candle of 
the Lord that is lighted with the devil's fire and 
snatch it as "a brand from the burning;" power 
to turn a wrong world upside down; power to 
make Jesus live again in our lives ; power to make 
him so real and so charming that men shall be 
drawn away from their sins and find freedom and 
purity in him. Jesus said to the disciples, "Ye 
shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is 
come upon you." 

As we look into the New Testament we see that 
this was true everywhere during the ministry of 
Jesus and in the establishing of the Christian 
church. It was when Jesus was full of the Holy 
Ghost that he returned from Jordan and went up 
into the wilderness and won his great victory over 
11 161 



162 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



the devil. On the day of Pentecost it was, when 
they were all "filled with the Holy Ghost," that 
Peter and his one hundred and twenty fellow- 
workers had such wondrous power in the presen- 
tation of the truth that the wicked, prejudiced 
Jews yielded to their preach ing of the cross of 
Christ on every side, and three thousand of them 
were added to the church in a single day. It was 
when Peter and John were "full of the Holy 
Ghost" that they healed the lame man, and were 
so full of holy boldness that the people, perceiving 
that they were unlearned and ignorant men, mar- 
veled and " took knowledge of them that they had 
been with Jesus." It was when the early Chris- 
tians were gathered together in prayer, and the 
place was shaken where they assembled together, 
and " they were all filled with the Holy Ghost," that 
it is said about them, " They spake the word of 
God with boldness. And the multitude of them 
that believed were of one heart and of one soul, 
. . . and with great power gave the apostles wit- 
ness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus : and 
great grace was upon them all." We are told in 
the description given of Stephen that he was " a 
man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost." We 
are not astonished after that to hear that he was 
full of power and " did great wonders and miracles 
among the people," and that the multitude "were 



THE GIFT OF POWER. 



163 



not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by 
which he spake." When Saul was stricken down 
with conviction of sin, on the way to Damascus, 
and Ananias came to him to lead him into the 
light, it is said that he was "filled with the Holy 
Ghost." After that it is only natural to read that 
he "increased the more in strength, and con- 
founded the Jews which dwelt at Damascus, prov- 
ing that this is very Christ." The same descrip- 
tion is given us of Barnabas. It is said of him : 
" He was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost 
and of faith ;" and it follows then, as a matter of 
course, in the record: "much people was added 
unto the Lord." At Iconium "the disciples were 
filled with joy and with the Holy Ghost," and the 
result of the work carried forward in such a spirit 
was that " a great multitude both of the Jews and 
also of the Greeks believed." 

The same power has been with the church in its 
days of triumph in every age. The men who have 
wrought wondrous things for the salvation of souls 
have been those who have received power because 
the Holy Ghost was upon them. Freeman Clarke 
well says that there is always a tendency in relig- 
ion to relapse into mechanism — to multiply cere- 
monies and lose the spirit. Ever, as the winter 
of unbelief chills the soul and the river of religious 
life sinks in its channel, the ice of forms accumu- 



164 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

lates along its shores. Then the Lord sends a new 
prophet, to whom religion is not a form, but a 
reality; one who sees with his own eyes God as 
a heavenly presence in nature and life ; who has 
the vision, the faculty divine. What a long and 
glorious procession there are of them — a line of 
torch-bearers who have kept the divine life aglow 
in the church! Such men as Paul, Augustine, 
Bernard, Savonarola, Huss, Wycliffe, Luther; 
and, in the later days, such men as Fox the 
Quaker, Whitefleld and the Wesleys, Finney and 
Edwards, and Moody. Such men are divinely or- 
dained to call people away from dusty books and 
dry forms to the open vision of a new heaven and 
new earth. Their power is not their own. It is 
not the power of genius, or learning, or logic, or 
eloquence. It is the power of the Holy Spirit. 
They see God face to face. They see him in 
Christ, as Whittier saw him when he sang : 

" Our friend, our brother, and our Lord ! 
What shall thy service be? 
Nor name, nor form, nor ritual word, 
But simply following thee !" 

This power we want ! — a power that will make 
us irresistible as the messengers of the Son of God ; 
a power that will melt down all our icicles of in- 
difference and change our natures into impetuous 



THE GIFT OF POWER. 



165 



torrents of loving enthusiasm. The disciples on 
the day of Pentecost were such marvels of fervor 
and earnestness that some of the people thought 
they were intoxicated with strong drink; but 
Peter replied that it was not the effect of wine 
but the power of the Holy Spirit working within 
them. They were carried away by that Divine 
Spirit ; they were, to use a foreign phrase, " God- 
intoxicated men." When the people were aston- 
ished at the enthusiasm of Paul, he exclaimed, 
"The love of Christ constraineth us." Few men 
won more souls to Christ in his day than Richard 
Baxter. The secret of all his success was the 
power of the Holy Ghost which was upon him. 
That it was which gave him his unbounded en- 
thusiasm. His biographer says Baxter would have 
set the world on fire while another was lighting a 
match. 

"He preached as though he ne'er should preach again, 
And as a dying man to dying men. " 

Dr. O. P. Gifford tells the story of a mighty re- 
vival which was in progress in a Wesley an chapel. 
The rector of the Established Church dropped in 
one evening, as he was bound to do, the chapel 
being within the limits of his parish. Scandalized 
by the excitement, he rebuked the zealous Wes- 
leyans, saying, " This is all wrong, all wrong. 



166 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

When Solomon built his temple there was heard 
neither the sound of hammer, nor saw, nor chisel. 
You make too much noise here." The chapel 
preacher replied, "Oh, but that's all right; we are 
not building here, we are just blasting, getting out 
lively stones for the temple. Christ is the Mas- 
ter-builder." The preacher was right; he was 
using dynamite, destroying the kingdom of dark- 
ness. Something of this Paul must have done 
when his enemies declared, "These that have 
turned the world upside down have come hither 
also." A touch of the dynamic energy of the 
Holy Spirit shook the prison wherein Paul and 
Silas sung psalms and prayed to God. " Friends, 
this is what the Christianity of to-day lacks, what 
you and I lack — dynamic energy. Books as black 
as those of Ephesus need to be piled in the public 
squares, leaders as corrupt as Felix ^ and Festus 
ought to be faced, hypocrisy as vile as that of 
Simon Magus ought to be unmasked, sins as fla- 
grant as those at Rome and Corinth demand at- 
tention. Oh, for the promised dynamite of the 
Holy Spirit! This power which we lack, and 
which we may have because it is promised, has 
its source outside the church and human life alto- 
gether. 6 Ye shall receive power' — not generated 
from within, not attained to by straining present 
powers, or enlarging present capacities. We can 



THE GIFT OF POWER. 



167 



not whip ourselves into a state of power, as though 
we were eggs; strike the fire from ourselves by 
any flint and steel arrangement ; lift ourselves into 
it by force of will ; educate ourselves into it by 
culture of heart or head. The dynamic power is 
without ; we are to receive it. Though itself such 
a mighty cause, it is also an effect; the power lies 
in the Holy Spirit. 'Ye shall receive power after 
that the Holy Spirit is come upon you.' " 

Do you ask how we can receive this power? 
The answer is, by obedience and prayer. When 
Jesus came to be baptized of John in the Jordan 
he said to John : " Thus it becometh us to fulfil all 
righteousness." And it is recorded that "Jesus 
also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was 
opened, and the Holy Ghost descended in bodily 
shape like a dove upon him." Thus it was through 
obedience and prayer that Jesus passed from being 
Jesus the carpenter of Nazareth, to be Jesus the 
Christ, the Savior of the world. Then he began 
to do mighty works. We shall get power by fol- 
lowing the example of our Lord. 

At Niagara Falls for perhaps thousands' of years 
a volume of water estimated at 275,000 cubic feet 
per second has been plunging over a precipice 
about one hundred and sixty feet in height, in- 
volving a daily force equivalent to that stored up 
in all the coal mined each day at the present time 



168 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

throughout the world. But it is only within a 
year that men have learned how to make this gi- 
gantic force do a part of the world's work. It has 
been flowing on through all the years, waiting for 
humble and obedient minds to take hold upon it 
and harness it to service. So the divine power of 
the Holy Spirit waits to be used by the prayerful, 
the humble, and the obedient. Ever3 T thing in the 
way of winning men to Christ that was done 
in New Testament times can be done to-day if 
we have the same faithful prayer, and the same 
obedience of life. Men are more than a match for 
the devil to-day, as Jesus was in his day, when 
they are full of the Holy Ghost. Men are glad 
witnesses for Christ, and timid ones who have 
gone tongue-tied along the road speak the word 
with all boldness, when once the anointing of the 
Holy Spirit is upon them. As in Iconium multi- 
tudes believed under the influence of the ministry 
of the disciples, so in Brooklyn multitudes will be- 
lieve when the power of the Holy Ghost is present 
with us as it was with Paul and Barnabas and 
their friends. 

Let us not forget that the Holy Spirit, in answer 
to prayer, is able and willing to convict of sin even 
those who have long withstood his grace. In one 
of the Northfield meetings a year or so ago an ac- 
count of his conversion given by a Christian mer- 



THE GIFT OF POWER. 



169 



chant from Maine shows how marvelously the 
Holy Spirit can work in answer to prayer. Dur- 
ing the revival that occurred in Boston in 1877 
under the direction of Mr. Moody, this merchant 
came to that city on business. He was entirely 
indifferent to the Gospel of Christ. Hearing that 
large numbers crowded the Tabernacle every night 
at these evangelistic services, he suggested to a 
friend that they might attend on a certain evening 
after business hours. This friend was obliged to 
excuse himself owing to a previous engagement, 
but suggested that, to gain admittance, it would 
be necessary to be promptly at the Tabernacle at 
an early hour, as the doors were then closed. The 
merchant, actuated more by curiosity than any- 
thing else, determined to attend that evening. 
After tea he strolled leisurely on his way to the 
meeting, giving but little thought to the warning 
of his friend that the doors were closed at a cer- 
tain hour. Arriving at the Tabernacle he found 
that he was five minutes late. The policemen sta- 
tioned about the place were asked to admit him. 
He declared his willingness to accept even a stand- 
ing-place within the building. He went to every 
door of the mammoth Tabernacle making this re- 
quest, but was refused everywhere. The police- 
men said their orders were imperative and they 
could not admit him. After a moment's reflec- 



170 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

tion he concluded to spend the evening at one of 
the Boston theaters. As he walked toward the 
theater he remembered that he had been distinctly 
told that the doors were closed at a certain hour, 
and that it was his own negligence that had shut 
him out. That was the chosen opportunity for the 
awakening of his soul to spiritual realities. The 
Holy Spirit in that moment suggested to his mind 
the sad condition of the five foolish virgins who 
were shut out of the kingdom of God. The Holy 
Spirit impressed upon him that he had been treat- 
ing his soul's salvation with the same culpable 
negligence that he had shown on his way to the 
Tabernacle service. He had been often told that 
there was an hour for closing the door of grace ; 
he had heedlessly disregarded the information. 
And now, if he were called suddenly to die, his 
condition would be that of the virgins who came 
to the door of heaven destitute of the necessary 
preparation and were denied admittance. And 
how terrible it would be to have the door of grace 
closed forever ! These thoughts so fully occupied 
his mind that he was not able to recall afterward 
what scenes were presented that night in the 
theater. " The door is shut, the door is shut," was 
the voice of the Spirit speaking to his immortal 
soul throughout the entire evening. On reaching 
his home in Maine the following day, he an- 



THE GIFT OF POWER. 



171 



nounced that he had failed to hear Mr. Moody. 
His Christian wife was deeply disappointed. She 
had prayed that her husband might be brought to 
Christ in these meetings, and her pastor had 
united in the prayer. Little did they then know 
that the Holy Spirit was powerfully convicting 
him of sin; but not in just the way they had 
thought. The voice was constantly saying in his 
inmost soul, " The door is shut, the door is shut." 
The final outcome of his distress was most glori- 
ous. For three days and nights his soul was in 
agony. Opening the Bible when alone, he found 
just the words to meet his case; and at last in his 
own home, with praying souls about him, he sur- 
rendered himself in deepest penitence and accepted 
by faith the offered help of the Son of God. He 
lost no time in publicly confessing the Lord Jesus 
Christ. The years that have passed have shown 
the reality of his regeneration. He not only lives 
a godly life, but he devotes a large portion of his 
income yearly to the spread of the Gospel. 

It may be that there are some who hear me at 
this hour who have been convicted by the Holy 
Spirit, and are at this moment conscience-stricken 
because of their sins. If so, I beg of you not to 
delay, not to grieve the Holy Spirit, but to yield 
to his gracious influence and accept Jesus Christ 
as your Savior. 



WITNESSES FOR CHRIST. 



" Ye shall be my witnesses. "—Acts i. 8 (Revised Version) . 

I think it is very significant that immediately 
following the assurance that to the disciples upon 
whom the Holy Ghost was bestowed there should 
come mighty power, Christ said, "And ye shall 
be my witnesses." It suggests that the testimony 
itself is given added power and made effective by 
the presence of the Holy Ghost in the hearts of 
those who bear witness. Mr. Moody, telling the 
story of his own ministerial life, says that when 
he was first preaching at Farwell Hall, Chicago, 
he never worked harder to prepare his sermons ; 
he preached and preached ; but it seemed like beat- 
ing against the air. A good woman used to say, 
"Mr. Moody, you don't seem to have power in 
your preaching." His great desire was that he 
might have a fresh anointing! He requested 
this woman and a few other people to come and 
pray with him every Friday at four o'clock. He 
himself prayed day and night that God would fill 
the empty vessel. One day about this time he was 
in New York, thinking on these things and long- 
172 



WITNESSES FOR CHRIST. 173 



ing for the Spirit's power to make his testimony 
for Christ effective ; and as he was going into a 
bank on Wall Street, he felt a strange and mighty 
power coming over him. The glory of God came 
upon him so that he went up to the hotel, and 
there in his room he wept before God, and cried, 
"O my God, stay thy hand!" After that he 
never preached a sermon but somebody was con- 
verted. He preached the same sermons over again, 
word for word, that he had preached without 
effect in Chicago, and under the power of the 
Holy Ghost the dry bones were made to live, and 
these lifeless sermons became mighty instruments 
in the hands of God in winning men to believe on 
the Lord Jesus Christ. I am sure that one of the 
chief reasons for the great triumph of the early 
Christians was that they were not only preachers 
but witnesses. If the apostles had been only the- 
orizers about Christ and his mission, Christianity 
would not have lived very long. But they were 
above all witnesses. This is true of every one of 
them. The greater part of their sermons were 
made np of testimony concerning what they had 
themselves seen and known of the power of Jesus 
Christ to forgive sin. They went everywhere 
bearing their witness to Christ. They were living 
witnesses. If they were summoned before a court 
to give an account of themselves, they glorified 



174 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



God, for it only gave them the better opportunity 
to advertise their testimony to the life and death 
and resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

What we need to-day above all is living wit- 
nesses to Christ — men and women full of faith and 
the Holy Ghost, who in season and out of season 
shall bear their glad testimony to what Christ has 
done for their souls. There may be learning and 
culture and eloquence in the pulpit, and large con- 
gregations to listen to earnest sermons, and yet no 
revivals and few conversions if the members of the 
church regard their religion as a matter of taste 
and luxury. Some people seem to think that when 
they have provided music and preaching as attrac- 
tions to draw men to Christ, they have fulfilled 
all the obligations they owe to the Savior. They 
forget that while their pastor is an ambassador for 
Christ, that they are the witnesses who either up- 
hold or belie by their own conduct the message he 
proclaims. It is not the pulpit only, but the rank 
and file of Christian men and women who are to 
shine as lights in the world, and who are to hold 
forth daily the word of life. 

We have many instances given us in the Bible, 
and all of us who have had much experience and 
observation in winning men to Christ have seen 
the marvelous power of human testimony in bring- 
ing about such a result. How strongly this is set 



WITNESSES FOR CHRIST. 



175 



forth in that story Naaman and the healing of his 
leprosy, which is told us in 2 Kings. Rev. Mark 
Guy Pearse draws a very graphic picture of the 
contrast between Naaman and the little maid 
whose testimony for God was his salvation. There 
was the famous warrior who dwelt in the palace 
of the king, the commander of the king's armies, 
with authority to speak to the whole nation, and 
all men were ready to obey him; with troops of 
horses, and hosts of chariots, and servants that 
wait upon him and minister to him. In both the 
council and the military camp he was the leading 
man in Syria. And he was as brave as he was 
wise, and the whole country was full of his hero- 
ism and valor. His soldiers were proud of him, 
and his presence with them was worth an army. 
The people loved him, and called him the deliverer 
of their nation. There is an old tradition that it 
was he whose hand shot the arrow that smote be- 
tween the joints of the wicked Ahab's armor, so 
that he fell down dead in his chariot. He was the 
kind of man that sometimes comes to the front in 
answer to the crying needs of every great nation — 
daring, wise, splendid in heroism, seeing the thing 
to be done and doing it swiftly and well. His 
name was an inspiration to his own forces, and a 
terror to his foes. In short, he was a great man. 
But it is very interesting to notice how alongside 



176 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

this word great there is set the word little ; and 
alongside this mighty man of valor is put the 
story of the little captive maid. Poor little thing, 
her story is a very sad one. A troop of Syrians 
marching one day into Israel — fierce fellows, burn- 
ing the homesteads of the villagers, before whom 
the frightened people fled to the mountains or 
caves — had come to some cottage, and there, it 
may be tending a sick mother, too feeble to es- 
cape, or guarding the little baby of the family, 
whom she would not forsake, this girl is taken 
captive and carried away by the soldiers. They 
sell her as a slave to Naaman's wife. A stranger 
in a strange land, with the memory of her bitter 
griefs, in thought and feeling and hope and. relig- 
ion severed from those about her, she must wait 
upon her mistress and do her bidding, with none 
to befriend her. We can think of her sighing in 
her loneliness, "Ah, me; if I were only king of 
Syria, or even this great general, I would set right 
the wrongs of the poor folks, and bid the cruel sol- 
diers stay at home. I would have no burning cot- 
tages, no ruined homes, and no poor captive men 
or maidens, if I were king. How good it must be 
to be so great! But I am only a little maiden; 
what can I do? It is dreadful to be so weak and 
little." And yet this little maid it is who brings 
deliverance to the great man of Syria, because 



WITNESSES FOR CHRIST. 



177 



there are in her two things that are never little — a 
kind heart, and faith in God. Altho she was 
smarting with a sense of her own wrongs and sor- 
rows, she was generous enough to think about the 
sorrows of her enemies, and of this great officer, 
her master. Day after day it made her little heart 
ache to see him grow white with the dreadful lep- 
rosy; and that, day after day, her poor mistress 
should carry so great a burden of grief. At last 
the little maiden could stand it no longer, and 
standing beside her mistress she sighed, seeing 
her sorrow, and timidly bore her testimony: 
" Would to God, my lord were with the prophet 
that is in Samaria, for he would recover him of his 
leprosy." And one went and told his lord what 
the little maid had said, and that word of testi- 
mony led to his healing and his conversion. 

So there are none of us so little or of so little in- 
fluence but that if we are faithful to God, and bear 
our testimony for Christ with a tender and loving 
heart, we may be of great blessing to those who 
come in contact with us. Paul may plant, and 
Apollos may water, but it is after all God who 
giveth the increase, and he alone can tell whose 
testimony is most powerful in winning the case 
for Jesus in a human heart. God often uses the 
weak things of this world to confound the strong 

and the mighty. 
12 



178 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

The story is told of a dissipated young man who 
one day entered a street-car in one of our large cities 
and sat down all unnoticed. He was so cast down 
and in despair that he did not heed or care who 
else was in the car. He had lost one job after an- 
other because of his dissipated habits, and now the 
extremity had come. He mumbled to himself: 
" If I can not get work, I can die ; there's an end 
to all things. "When one ceases to be useful, they 
ought to be out of the way." He then looked back 
to the time when he had come to the city, full of 
hope, ambition, and promises to his mother to be 
a pure, honest boy ; but, alas ! it was the old, old 
story. A sparkle came to his eyes as he thought 
of the fortune he soon hoped to lay at her feet. 
Then, as he realized his condition, a great wave of 
agony, shame, and distress swept over the once 
manly countenance. Now he found himself alone 
— the man beside him had just left. With down- 
cast eyes he noticed a slip of paper. Slowly and 
thoughtlessly he picked it up and was about to 
throw it down when he thought the handwriting 
looked familiar. As he glanced at the script the 
words attracted his attention ; he read and reread 
them until they burned themselves into his mem- 
ory : " I thought on my ways and turned my feet 
unto thy testimonies." He was aroused to a sense 
of his surroundings as the car stopped and he saw 



WITNESSES FOR CHRIST. 179 



they were at the terminus of the line. He got off 
because it seemed to make no difference where he 
was. So, without noticing what he was doing, he 
crossed the street and sat down on the grass in the 
shade, with head down, eyes fixed upon the ground, 
and as if seeing them there, again he repeated the 
words, " I thought on my ways and turned my 
feet." He was coming to himself as many an- 
other prodigal has done. He was thinking. He 
did not know he was being watched by a lady on 
the veranda across the way, and had not heard 
her daughter singing ; but now the words floated 
out, through the open window — 

"Other refuge have I none, 

HaDgs my helpless soul on thee, 
Leave, O leave me not alone. " 

" Alone, yes, alone," he said while he wept. He 
glanced up as a little child ran past him, then 
turned and looked at him with his countenance 
full of pity, and said, " Have oo 'ost anyfing?" 

"Yes; I've lost my all, my manhood." 

The lady missed the little child and called him, 
but he paid no heed. She came across the street 
for him. As she neared them the little boy said 
in tones of sympathy : 

"Mamma, he 'ost somefing." 

" Can I help you, sir?" she asked in the kindest, 



180 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



sweetest tones he had heard since he left home and 
mother. And her Christian sympathy and kindly 
testimony of the willingness of God to stretch out 
a hand to those who are in trouble was the begin- 
ning of a new and noble life. 

Is there anybody here who needs a word of testi- 
mony to God's grace and mercy? If there is any- 
body here who is heavy laden and weary, there 
are many of us that can bear glad witness that 
Jesus can give rest unto your souls. If there is 
any one here with a heartache, there are many 
present who can bear witness that in the deepest 
sorrows and tenderest griefs that ever surround or 
pierce a human soul Jesus Christ is a friend who 
can soothe and comfort. If there are those who 
are in the bondage of sin, who have tried to break 
asunder their chains and failed, there are those 
here who can bear glad testimony that Jesus can 
set the sinful soul free. Hear, I pray you, the 
testimony of your brothers and sisters who have 
known the same sorrows and sins that beset you, 
and who come offering you the blessed Christ who 
has been to them a glorious Redeemer. 



THE ASCENSION OF JESUS. 



"As they were looking, he was taken up: and a cloud 
received him out of their sight." Acts i. 9 (Revised 
Version) . 

No more poetic or beautiful scene has ever been 
conceived by the mind of man than the picture 
that is presented to us in the plain and simple 
story of Luke, the writer of the Acts of the Apos- 
tles, in narrating the incidents in connection with 
the ascension of Jesus. Glance for a moment over „ 
the record of the last forty-five days leading up to 
the ascension : The last supper of Christ with his 
disciples, with all its sacred solemnity ; the scenes 
in the Garden of Gethsemane ; the arrest of Jesus ; 
the impetuous courage of Peter and afterward his 
denial and bitter grief ; Christ's trial before Pilate ; 
his condemnation; his crucifixion on the cross; 
the appearance in public of Joseph and Nicodemus 
as open friends of the Lord, and his burial in Jo- 
seph's tomb; the surrounding of the tomb with 
soldiers of Rome to insure the safe care of his 
body ; the descent of the angel on the first Easter 

morning, the fear and flight of the soldiers, the 
181 



182 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

rolling away of the stone from the mouth of the 
sepulcher, and the glorious resurrection of Jesus 
Christ; the coming of the women to the tomb early 
on that Sunday morning; their conversation with 
the angel and afterward their vision of and con- 
versation with the Master; the appearance of Jesus 
to Mary Magdalene and his prediction, " Go to my 
brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my 
Father and your Father, to my God and your 
God;" his appearance to some of the disciples as 
they walked to Emmaus, his going in with them 
to see the other disciples, and breaking bread with 
them to the great joy of their hearts; his appear- 
ance afterward to them when Thomas was pres- 
ent, and his kindly condescension and love to 
Thomas, inviting him to touch the prints of the 
nails in his hands and thrust his hand into the 
wound made by the spear in his side, until Thomas, 
broken-hearted at his own past unbelief, and over- 
whelmed by the Savior's tender generosity to him, 
cries aloud, "My Lord and my God;" that lovely 
breakfast with its sunrise fellowship beside the Sea 
of Galilee, when Christ reinstates Simon Peter 
publicly in the most loving manner; and after- 
ward his conversations with them in which he 
says many things to them about the kingdom of 
God. Not all of the words spoken at this time 
have been recorded for us, but we know that he 



THE ASCENSION OF JESUS. 183 



assured them that they should receive mighty 
power after the Holy Ghost was come upon them ; 
we know that he desired that they should tarry in 
Jerusalem — the very place of his crucifixion, the 
center of the prejudice against him — until, in an- 
swer to their prayers, the Holy Ghost should come 
upon them, and then go forth as witnesses to him, 
first in their own city, and afterward to the utter- 
most parts of the earth, preaching the Gospel to 
every creature, teaching and baptizing in his name, 
with the promise that he would be with them with 
spiritual power and comfort unto the end of the 
world. 

Then he looks about the little group and says, 
" I would like to have you all come with me to 
Bethany." With loving fear, knowing that some- 
thing of greatest interest to them is about to oc- 
cur, they follow him to the holy spot. As they 
gather about him, picture to yourself the scene: 
Mary, the lovely mother of Jesus, is there ; Mary 
Magdalene whose poor, sin-cursed life had been a 
burden to her until the Master met her and ban- 
ished back to their native hell all the devils that 
tormented her soul, is in that little group ; Thomas, 
doubting no more now or ever, has his deep-set 
eyes on the Master's face ; James, clean-cut, holy 
man of integrity, stands near by; Peter, impul- 
sive, full of vigor and life as ever, but now and ever 



184 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

after obedient to the will of Christ, crowds close to 
one side, while John, the beloved disciple, is near 
the Lord on the other. There is Jesus in their 
midst, the same Jesus who was born in Bethlehem, 
who was consecrated at the altar by Simeon, who 
argued with the doctors of the law in yonder tem- 
ple, who worked as a carpenter over there in Naz- 
areth, who was baptized of John in the J ordan, who 
for three years had gone about preaching and do- 
ing mighty works, healing the sick, cleansing the 
lepers, bringing the dead back to life; the same 
Jesus who stood before Pilate and was crowned 
by the cruel soldiers with the crown of thorns; the 
same Jesus who was crucified on the cross, dead 
and buried, and who on the morning of the third 
day rose in glorious triumph. Draw near and see 
that it is the same J esus. There are the scars on 
his brow from the thorns; the prints of the cruel 
nails are yet in his hands and in his feet. If you 
will push back his garment, you will see the wound 
there in his side, made by the Roman soldier's 
spear. Yes, it is the same Jesus; but listen, he 
raises his hands over their heads to bless them. 
Methinks I hear him utter these words with which 
he had comforted them once before : " Peace I leave 
with you, my peace I give unto you : not as the 
world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your 
heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." "Ye 



THE ASCENSION OF JESUS. 185 



believe in God, believe also in me." "I go to 
prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare 
a place for you, I will come again, and receive you 
unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be 
also." Then gently he rises out of their midst, 
and as he rises a glorious chariot of cloud descends 
to receive him. He steps into the chariot, his lov- 
ing face, always tender and gentle even in the dim 
distance, fades away in the glory of the illumi- 
nated cloud that wraps him about. There they 
stand, that little group of friends, looking upward 
into the place where they last beheld their Lord. 
The tears of loneliness are in their eyes, a great 
wave of fear is beginning to sweep over their 
hearts, when back from the cloud come two mes- 
sengers, two glorious angels robed in white, who 
drive away their fear and arouse their hope by 
this triumphant exclamation : " Ye men of Gal- 
ilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This 
same Jesus, which is taken up from you into hea- 
ven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen 
him go into heaven." 

This declaration of the angels brought the dis- 
ciples back to a consciousness that they had a great 
and glorious mission to perform as the representa- 
tives of Jesus Christ, and sent them back to Jerusa- 
lem to prepare for it. The story is told that some 
years ago a new clock was made to be placed in 



186 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

Temple Hall. The clock-maker was instructed to 
wait upon the benchers of the temple when the 
clock was finished, to receive from them a suitable 
motto to be put under the clock. He applied sev- 
eral times, but without getting the desired infor- 
mation, as they had not determined on the inscrip- 
tion. Continuing to importune them, he came one 
day when the old benchers were met in the Temple 
Hall, and had just sat down to dinner. One of 
the benchers, who was indignant because the clock- 
maker came on such an occasion to trouble them, 
angrily replied, "Go about your business !" The 
mechanic, taking this for an answer to his ques- 
tion, went home and inserted at the bottom of the 
clock, " Go about your business !" and placed it in 
the Temple Hall, to the great surprise of the 
benchers, who, however, were greatly pleased, and 
decided that the accident had produced a better 
motto than they could have conceived ; and ever 
since, the faithful Temple clock has continued to 
remind the lawyers and the public to go about their 
business. That was the mission of these two 
angels who came to the disciples on the occasion of 
the ascension. It was to remind them at once that 
they must be about the Lord's business. Oh, that 
some messenger from heaven would call us, and all 
God's people, to the great business which we have 
on our hands as the representatives of our Lord! 



THE ASCENSION OF JESUS. 187 



Joseph Parker, speaking of the upward look of 
the disciples, and of their return to Jerusalem with 
uplifted hearts, and of their choosing there an 
upper room where they were besieging the throne 
of grace for divine power to go out and hold up 
Christ before a dying world, recalls the very in- 
teresting fact that in ancient Madrid the rule was 
that, except there was a special stipulation to the 
contrary, the upper rooms of all houses belonged 
to the king. However humble your house, if it 
had been built in those days under the common 
law of Spain, the upper chambers were royal pos- 
sessions. Is it not worth our while to ask our 
hearts the question, Is there any chamber in our 
house that belongs to the King? Do we keep a 
chair which he will turn into a throne by sitting 
in it? Do we keep one crust which he may turn 
into a feast by breaking it? Is there anything in 
all the house that is peculiarly and surely the 
King's? O brothers and sisters, let us make the 
whole house his from top to bottom ; from garret 
to cellar let us furnish our whole house with such 
thoughts, such hopes, such purposes, such longing 
desires, that our house shall be pleasing to the 
King ! If we shall do that, and linger in prayer 
and faith, God will make our house an antecham- 
ber to glory ; he will make it a divine spot where 
the Holy Ghost shall come down upon us and from 



188 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



which we shall go out daily to be irresistible wit- 
nesses for him. 

In the sixteenth chapter of John's Gospel there 
is recorded a conversation in which Jesus gives us 
the reason for his ascension. He had just been 
talking to them about his going away from them, 
and, noticing the gloom and sadness in their faces, 
he continued : " Because I have said these things 
unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart. Never- 
theless I tell you the truth ; it is expedient for you 
that I go away ; for if I go not away, the Com- 
forter will not come unto you ; but if I depart, I 
will send him unto you." I think this is easy to 
understand when we consider a moment. If Christ 
had remained in the world in his human body, 
only one little group of people at a time could have 
had the joy of his presence; but now the Holy 
Spirit makes his presence known constantly the 
whole world round to every heart that opens itself 
to receive his comfort. How clearly this is sug- 
gested to us by the story of the death and bringing 
to life again of Lazarus, during the ministry of 
Jesus. After Lazarus was dead and buried, and 
Jesus and some of his friends drew near to that 
little home in Bethany where he had spent so 
many pleasant hours, Martha ran out to meet him, 
and the first words she said to him were, " Lord, 
if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. " 



THE ASCENSION OF JESUS. 189 



But, thank God! nowhere where Christ is pro- 
claimed is there a poor Martha mourning for her 
brother who has need to make that wail now ; for — 
in India, or China, or Africa, or Europe, or 
America — all may bring their necessities into the 
presence of Jesus and may know the consolation 
of the divine Comforter. 

But we should not forget that in the very na- 
ture of things the Comforter can only give com- 
fort to those who accept and love the Lord Jesus 
Christ. The Comforter is in this world to repre- 
sent Jesus, and can not give comfort to those who 
hate the Lord except they repent and be forgiven. 
To those who do not love Christ he has another 
mission. In that same sixteenth chapter of John's 
Gospel, following the tender words concerning the 
Comforter in his relation to those who love Jesus, 
the Savior continues to define the mission of the 
Holy Spirit by saying : " And when he is come, he 
will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, 
and of judgment : of sin, because they believe not 
on me; of righteousness, because I go to my Fa- 
ther, and ye see me no more ; of judgment, because 
the prince of this world is judged." So the Holy 
Spirit is in this world now not only to comfort 
those who love Jesus by the manifestation of his 
presence in their hearts, and sustaining them in 
every time of trouble and grief ; but he is here also 



190 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



with a mission to every man and woman who has 
not yet come to know Christ as his or her personal 
Savior. 

He is here first to convict of sin. If there are 
those present who have not yet made their peace 
with God, I pray God that the Holy Spirit may 
do the work of his great mission on your hearts 
now — that he may show you what a terrible thing 
sin is and how it has marred and hurt your own 
heart and character; that he may reveal to you 
how sad has been its influence on those who love 
you, and how ungrateful and wicked it has been 
in that it has shut up your gratitude which ought 
to have been returned to God for his great mercy 
and goodness to you. Oh, that he might make 
you see how mean and cruel a thing sin is in that 
it has made you to harden your heart, and refuse 
the invitations of the Christ, who was crucified 
for you. God grant that the Holy Spirit may 
convict you of sin now as never before ! 

He comes to convict men of righteousness — the 
righteousness of Jesus Christ. The righteousness 
of Jesus is more than simple morality. It is not 
only refraining from outbreaking and villainous 
sin, but an aggressive righteousness that seeks to 
make the stream pure by cleansing the fountain. 
The righteousness of Jesus Christ is superior to all 
other in that it does not consist in mere forms and 



THE ASCENSION OF JESUS. 191 



ceremonies, but purifies the fountain of the affec- 
tions and purposes. Oh, that the Holy Spirit might 
convict you of righteousness ! that he might show 
you that the reason you have failed so many times 
when you have tried to be righteous, and to make 
yourseif right, is because your righteousness has all 
been on the outside. You have been trying to 
send out a pure stream from a poisoned fountain. 
You have been shutting down under the hatches 
an unholy fire of lust, a burning, consuming ap- 
petite for wicked things, while in the mean time 
you are trying to present to the world a whitened 
conduct. The righteousness of Jesus Christ goes 
to the bottom of things. It goes down into the 
hull of a man's heart and drenches to death the 
unholy fire. Ah, yes, it does infinitely better than 
that — it not only drowns out the old appetites, but 
it loads the ship with a new cargo of hopes and 
aspirations and desires until it becomes the simple, 
practical truth to say about a man thus genuinely 
converted to God that the things he once loved he 
now hates, and the things he once hated he now 
loves. The old man with his deeds is put off, and 
the new man, created in righteousness after Jesus 
Christ, is put on. That is the reason there are no 
cases too hard for Christ. That is the reason he 
is able to save unto the uttermost all that come 
unto God by him. He can save the vilest sinner, 



192 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



because he makes him over again, and makes him 
a new creature in Christ Jesus. May there be 
many such blessed transformations to-night ! 

He convicts of a judgment to come. He calls 
to men's mind the fact that " it is appointed unto 
men once to die, but after this the judgment." 
He arouses careless hearts to appreciate the fact 
that their sins are not the playthings of an hour, 
but are solemn and awful things that must be ac- 
counted for. They may be covered up for a time, 
but just as sure as God is, they will be unmasked. 
God's word is just as plain and direct upon this 
subject as upon any other. Jesus himself says: 
"There is nothing covered, that shall not be re- 
vealed; neither hid, that shall not be known." 
And again it is plainly declared that the Lord 
shall bring to light " the hidden things of dark- 
ness." Do you remember that old legend of the 
man who murdered his friend and covered his 
body with leaves? He covered it carefully, and 
thought it was hidden forever, but the wind came 
and blew them all away. Then he took a huge 
stone and tied it to the body and threw it into the 
sea. But the sea gave up its dead. Then he took 
it once more, and dug a deep grave and put the 
body in it. But it was of no use. An awful 
earthquake cast it forth. It could not be hid . So 
shall it happen to all of us. If we are trying to 



THE ASCENSION OF JESUS. 193 



hide evil things of darkness in our lives, we may 
be sure they will come out. Hugh Price Hughes, 
speaking of a man committing suicide, says that 
there could not be a greater delusion, for the poor 
sinner only rushes into the blaze of day. We can 
not hide ourselves in that way. God will make 
manifest the counsels of the heart, even the coun- 
sels that have never found expression in word or 
deed. He will judge the secrets of men. Some 
of you would consider it an awful thing if I had 
the power to bring you here into this altar, and 
have you sit here while, inspired of God, I should 
take down the record which is being written by 
the angel on high, and read to this congregation 
the story of your life — the unwritten story of your 
inner self and your hidden thoughts and imagina- 
tions and plans and deeds ; yet that would be noth- 
ing in proportion to what is going to happen, for 
the whole universe shall hear it. Oh, that the 
Spirit of God might convict you of the certainty 
of judgment to come, so that you may repent of 
your sin and have it blotted out by the blood of 
Christ here and now, instead of having it forced 
out of your unwilling lips on the day of judgment, 
when it is too late for repentance. 

I thank God that if any now are convicted of sin, 
of righteousness, and of judgment, Jesus, the as- 
cended Savior, will, if you repent of your sins and 
13 



194 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

come to him in faith, intercede for you in the court 
of heaven. Christ not only bore our sins upon the 
cross, but he has ascended unto the right hand of 
God, where " he ever liveth to make intercession 
for us." Stephen, the first witness for the Lord 
Jesus to give his life for the faith, was permitted 
to see Jesus in the glory that now crowns him at 
the right hand of God. When his enemies 
gnashed upon him with their teeth, and the stones 
were showering upon him, "he, being full of faith 
and the Holy Ghost," kneeled dowc, looked up, 
and the heavens opened, displaying the glory of 
God. He exclaimed, "Behold, I see the heavens 
opened, and the Son of man standing on the right 
hand of God !" Enraptured at the glorious sight, 
and in perfect fellowship with his Lord, he prayed 
for his enemies in his dying hour, saying in reply 
to their demoniac rage and their cruel treatment, 
"Lord, lay not this sin to their charge." Then, 
with a glance at his Master through the opening 
heavens, he said, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit," 
and fell asleep. 

O wanderer away from God, convicted of sin, 
longing for a righteous life, conscious you are un- 
prepared to meet the judgment day, I pray you to 
accept the intercessions of Jesus, your ascended 
Savior and Lord, and through him receive the for- 
giveness of your sins. 



THE SYMBOLS OF THE SPIRIT. 



"The rushing of a mighty wind." — Acts ii. 2 (Revised 
Version) . 

"Tongues . . . like as of fire." — Acts ii. 3 (Revised 
Version) . 

"I will pour forth of my Spirit." — Acts ii. 17 (Revised 
Version) . 

M Ye have an anointing from the Holy One." — 1 John ii. 
20 (Revised Version). 

Let us go back for a moment to Bethany, and 
see that little group of disciples who have just wit- 
nessed the ascension of Jesus, and whose hearts 
have been comforted and strengthened and 
aroused to high purpose by the words of the an- 
gelic messengers. They go to Jerusalem, and 
there for forty days they tarry in earnest prayer, 
waiting for the promised coming of the Holy 
Spirit. 

We have revealed to us something of the condi- 
tions which obtained at the time of the descent of 
the Holy Ghost upon them. Luke says: "And 
when the day of Pentecost was now come, they 
were all together in one place." If we desire that 

the Holy Ghost shall come upon us with still 
195 



196 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



mightier power to make us efficient witnesses for 
Christ, there must be in our hearts something of 
the same longing for the Spirit, and of the same 
harmony of feeling and purpose. It is not neces- 
sary that we should all believe alike about non- 
essentials, but it is necessary that we shall love 
one another as the disciples did, that we shall love 
Christ supremely, and that we shall be unselfishly 
united in our earnest prayer for the coming of the 
Holy Spirit upon us. Are we thus united? Do 
we thus ardently desire the presence of the Spirit 
of God in our hearts? Is there in our hearts a 
sincere willingness to give up everything that 
stands in the way of our being used by the Holy 
Spirit with the greatest possible effect in the salva- 
tion of souls? Are we cherishing in our hearts or 
in our daily conduct anything that interferes with 
our being efficient ambassadors for Christ to those 
who have not yet come to know him ? These are 
very solemn and earnest questions. A man may 
pray until the day of judgment for the gift of the 
Holy Spirit and the anointing of power for ser- 
vice ; and if all the time he is unwilling to sacri- 
fice certain habits or pleasures that are nullifying 
his Christian influence, the power from heaven 
will not be given him. During this very week an 
earnest Christian worker was pleading with a 
young woman who attends this church, urging 



THE SYMBOLS OF THE SPIRIT. 



197 



her to come to Christ. The reason given for de- 
lay was that there were certain enjoyments which 
she felt would have to be given up if she became a 
genuine Christian. And then she remarked upon 
the conduct of certain members of our own con- 
gregation, saying that they conduct themselves in 
regard to the theater and things of that sort just 
the same as though they were not Christians. 
Now the important point is this : Whatever may 
be said about any questionable form of amuse- 
ment, every Christian is under obligation to God 
to ask first about his action, " What influence is 
my conduct to have upon my credibility as a wit- 
ness of Jesus Christ?" It is not my present pur- 
pose to make a crusade upon dancing, card-play- 
ing, and theater-going church-members; but I am 
impelled to bear my testimony that in twenty 
years in the ministry I have never known among 
those given over to this sort of amusements one 
person whose influence was effective in winning 
others to Christ ; I have never known one such in 
the church, either man or woman, that was re- 
garded as a spiritual Christian. I repeat the ques- 
tion, then : Are we willing, as God gives us to see 
the right from day to day, to give up anything 
that stands in the way of our being for Jesus 
Christ the most influential witnesses possible? 
These questions are pertinent under this theme. 



198 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



These people who, under God, won three thousand 
men and women to Christ on the day of Pentecost 
(just one day!) were people of this spirit. To 
them Christ was all in all. Would it please 
Jesus? Would it advance the cause of the 
Redeemer? Would it tend to bring glory to the 
crucified and risen Lord? — such were the ques- 
tions that were in their hearts, and such was the 
devotion that made it possible for God to use 
them as channels for divine grace to the sinning 
souls who heard their message. 

I desire very briefly to call your attention to 
four symbols of the Spirit for which we are pray- 
ing. The first comparison is to the "wind." The 
record says : " Suddenly there came from heaven a 
sound as of the rushing of a mighty wind." Je- 
sus, in his conversation with Nicodemus concern- 
ing the new birth, said : " Marvel not that I said 
unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind 
bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the 
sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, 
and whither it goeth : so is every one that is born 
of the Spirit." Wind signifies life. It is the mis- 
sion of the Holy Spirit to give us life. Do you 
remember that wonderful vision of Ezekiel? Eze- 
kiel was a heroic soul, thoroughly loyal to the mes- 
sage which he received from God. In common 
with many other such preachers, his course did 



THE SYMBOLS OF THE SPIRIT. 



199 



not always run smoothly. In the first years of the 
exile, before Jerusalem perished, his countrymen 
still clung to the hope that it would yet be deliv- 
ered. To add to his difficulties false prophets 
who were seeking only popular applause deluded 
the people with visions of peace when God said 
there was no peace. "We have not time to follow 
his history, which is of striking interest, but only 
to glance at one of the visions by which God en- 
couraged his soul, and which illustrates our theme. 
Under the influence of the prophetic spirit he was 
carried in a vision into the midst of a valley full 
of human bones ; like a place in which a fierce bat- 
tle has been fought, and very great multitudes 
have been slain, and, according to ancient custom, 
the dead left unburied till the flesh is all con- 
sumed, and the bones dried, divided, and scattered 
about. When he had gone round and round, and 
after careful survey of the bones found them to be 
very many and very dry, the marrow from within 
as well as the flesh from without being utterly 
wasted, God inquired of him, "Can these dry 
bones live?" To which he answered, with humil- 
ity and faith, "0 Lord God, thou kno west." No 
created power could restore them to life; but if 
God should please to put forth his power they 
might be raised from the dead and live. The 
Lord then ordered him to " Prophesy upon these 



200 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



bones" — to predict their resurrection, to call upon 
them to hear his word, and to speak over them the 
promises that follow concerning their being united 
and restored to life, that they might know his 
power and God-head. Surely no other preacher 
had quite so hard a congregation as that. It must 
be very trying to have all one's audience asleep at 
once. It must have seemed more hopeless to the 
prophet than to prophesy the restoration of Israel 
to their ancient posterity. But he started no ob- 
jections, and obeyed his orders. While he was 
speaking he heard a noise, and saw a great com- 
motion among the bones ; every one of them seemed 
in quest of his kindred bone. Under the divine 
direction and influence each speedily found its 
proper place, and was joined to those bones which 
belonged to the same body, until the whole were 
formed into a vast number of complete skeletons; 
and then, as he watched, sinews and flesh and skin 
covered them, and they became entire human bod- 
ies, yet without life. The prophet was next or- 
dered to "prophesy to the wind," and to command 
it, in the name of the Lord God, to blow from the 
four quarters of heaven upon these slain men, that 
they might live; and while he obeyed these orders 
they were restored to life, and he was surrounded 
by a large and enthusiastic army. This vision is 
full of illustrative truth. The church lacks power 



THE SYMBOLS OF THE SPIRIT. 201 



oftentimes because the religion of many of its 
members degenerates into a ghastly form or creed, 
with no flesh on the bones, no sinews of influence 
or power, no unity of purpose, and no spiritual life 
and energy. Oh, for the breathing of God's Spirit 
upon every member of this church ! 

Again, the coming of the Holy Spirit was ac- 
companied at Pentecost with tongues of fire. And 
in a spiritualized sense that has been true of every 
great revival of Christian life since that day. One 
of the certain characteristics of a genuine revival 
of religion in the church is the quickening into 
life of the speech of those who are the followers of 
Jesus. Those who lead in prayer do not usually 
pray so long as before, but it is because their 
tongues are aflame and they forget to pray by rote 
and form, which is always the recourse of the cold 
heart. They speak forth earnest words of petition 
which come with electric thrill from the heart and 
flash in lightning sparks from the tongue. The tes- 
timony takes on a different type. There is about 
it a keener sense of gratitude to God, a tenderer 
feeling of love for Christ, a deeper earnestness that 
it may produce conviction. Richard Sheridan 
said he liked to go and hear Rowland Hill preach 
because his words flowed hissing-hot from his heart. 
Oh, that the baptism of fire might come down 
upon us, so that our tongues shall learn new skill 



202 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

in speaking forth with simplicity and truth, but 
with blood -earnestness, what great things the Lord 
hath done for our souls ! 

Another comparison very often used is suggested 
by the promise, " I will pour forth of my Spirit" — 
suggestive of cleansing, refreshing, and abun- 
dance ; the water of life which shall spring up in 
the saved heart like an artesian well, flowing on 
ever in undiminished supply. But it is not ob- 
tained like an artesian well, for that is gotten by 
boring deep into the earth itself. The Spirit of 
God is something which we will never obtain by 
digging in our own hearts; but God is able to ful- 
fil to us the promise which Christ made to the 
woman at the well in Samaria — that his Spirit 
bestowed shall afterward be in us a well of water, 
springing up unto everlasting life. How greatly 
we need that God shall pour out upon us streams 
of divine grace, and overflow our dry and thirsty 
hearts with the fulness of his Spirit! Did you 
never notice along little inlets by the seashore, 
where the coast-line is low and the sea marshes 
are broad, how when the tide goes out the rank 
vegetation that grows in along these little tide 
streams lies down on the mud, flat and flabby and 
formless and soiled? But when the tide comes 
back from the great ocean, what a transformation 
there is ! Then these flabby and soiled plants rise 



THE SYMBOLS OF THE SPIRIT. 



203 



up under the buoying influence of the salt water, 
and are beautiful as they wave in the breeze, made 
stroug by the vitalizing current which fills every 
stem and leaf and pore. Thus it is with us as 
Christians when the full tide of divine grace from 
the heart of God flows into our hearts and vitalizes 
our affections, our intellects, our wills, and fills us 
with the glory of our Christ. 

There is still another comparison to the coming 
of the Holy Spirit, which John describes as "an 
anointing from the Holy One." Under the Old 
Testament dispensation prophets, priests, and 
kings were anointed with consecrating oil as a 
symbol of their calling and of their fitness for their 
special offices. Under the new dispensation every 
Christian is to be a prophet. Peter, on the day of 
Pentecost, called attention to that promise in his 
sermon : " But this is that which was spoken by 
the prophet Joel ; and it shall come to pass in the 
last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit 
upon all flesh : and your sons and your daughters 
shall prophesy, and your young men shall see vis- 
ions, and your old men shall dream dreams : and 
on my servants and my handmaidens I will pour 
out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall 
prophesy." Every one of us is to be a prophet in 
the sense that we are to tell forth to the people the 
glad news of salvation. Every Christian, too, is 



204 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

to be a priest, in that he is to be, by pleading and 
persuasion and prayer, a mediator between God 
and men whom he would win to Christ. Oh, that 
God would anoint us for this purpose! This 
anointing from the Holy One makes us kings, 
also, who need not be ashamed of our monarchy. 
Solomon said, " Better is he that ruleth his spirit 
than he that taketh a city." Instead of being the 
slaves of appetite and passion, the bondmen of 
wicked habits, pursued by the bloodhounds of be- 
setting sins, he who yields his heart completely 
up to the incoming of the Divine Spirit, who bows 
his head and heart to the anointing of the Holy 
One, is given power to become the son of God, 
and by God's grace becomes a king over the mon- 
archy of his own nature. 

And you that are not Christians, but are trust- 
ing in your own strength, following your own 
path — I call you to forsake your sins and accept 
the fulness of this rich and beautiful life which 
Jesus Christ offers to you. In the seventeenth 
chapter of Jeremiah there is a wonderful contrast 
drawn between the life that rejects God and the 
life that is open to receive all that he is willing to 
bestow. Notice the graphic strength of these two 
pictures: "Thus saith the Lord: Cursed be the 
man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his 
arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. 



THE SYMBOLS OF THE SPIRIT 



205 



For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and 
shall not see when good cometh ; but shall inhabit 
the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land 
and not inhabited." But now notice the marvel- 
ous contrast suggested in the words that follow : 
" Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and 
whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree 
planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her 
roots by the river, and shall not see when heat 
cometh, but her leaf shall be green ; and shall not 
be careful in the year of drought, neither shall 
cease from yielding fruit." How true to life these 
pictures are ! I beg of every one whose heart has 
departed from God and who is living in the desert 
of sin, where there can be no satisfying and per- 
manent peace, but ever and anon the hot winds of 
unrest and remorse, to ask God's grace to trans- 
plant you and transform you so that you shall be 
like the tree planted by the rivers of water, where 
you may lean the weight of your needs, and cares, 
and sins, and sorrows, upon " him who careth for 

you." 



PRICKED HEARTS AND THEIR CURE. 

"Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their 
heart, and said unto Peter and the rest of the apostles, 
Brethren, what shall we do? And Peter said unto them, 
Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name 
of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins ; and ye 
shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. "—Acts ii. 37, 38 
(Revised Version). 

After the Sermon on the Mount by Jesus him- 
self, this sermon of Peter on the day of Pentecost 
is the most famous in the history of the world. 
It is the first presentation of the Gospel to the mul- 
titude after the ascension of Jesus. We have, of 
course, but a condensed outline of the sermon, but 
enough to show us something of its scope and 
character. It was not a sermon that had been pre- 
pared very long beforehand, tho Peter had been 
preparing himself beforehand by a most earnest 
and faithful study of the Old Testament Scrip- 
tures. His quotations from the Prophets, and the 
Psalms, and his careful setting forth of the history 
of his people, clearly proving that Jesus Christ 
was the true Messiah, show that he was ready to 
give a reason for the faith that was in him. He 
206 



PRICKED HEARTS AND THEIR CURE. 207 

had the still further preparation without which 
a knowledge of history and the Bible is unavailing 
— the anointing of the Holy Ghost. 

A strong picture is presented to our imagination 
by this chapter : A great multitude of people sur- 
round the disciples, and the crowd constantly in- 
creases as the services proceed. There, in the 
midst of the throng, stands Peter, a strong, robust 
fisherman, with none of the graces of the schools, 
but aflame with earnestness and magnetic with the 
power of the Holy Ghost. There is no attempt 
made at elegance of rhetoric or oratorical finish, 
but just a big, blunt, plain-spoken man, trembling 
with holy passion, on fire to the very tips of his 
fingers, speaking out of the Scriptures, and still 
more out of his own heart history, what he knows 
about the life and death and resurrection of Jesus 
Christ. Such a man will never lack hearers. 
People may not be pleased with him always, but 
they will always want to hear him. He is abso- 
lutely fearless of everybody except God. He tells 
these people to their teeth that they themselves 
have taken the Lord Jesus, the Prince of Life, and 
by cruel, murderous hands, have put him to death 
upon the cross. If it had not been that the Holy 
Ghost was with him, and in their own consciences 
they knew he spoke the truth, they would have 
stoned him to death. Oh, that God will give us 



208 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

the power to speak to men's hearts ! " I have an 
ear for other preachers," Sir John Cheke used to 
say, "but I have a heart for Latimer." George 
Whitefield went to preach once at Exeter. A ruf- 
fian went to the meeting with his pockets full of 
stones to throw at the preacher. He waited 
through the prayer, thinking it would be greater 
sport to stop Whitefield after he got to preaching; 
As soon as the text was named he pulled out a 
stone, and waited for a good opportunity to throw 
it. But the Holy Spirit sent almost the first sen- 
tences straight to his heart, and the missile fell 
from his hand. When the sermon was over, he 
went to Whitefield, and said, " Sir, I came to hear 
you, intending to break your head, but the Spirit 
of God, through your words, has broken my 
heart." The man was gloriously converted, and 
became an influential Christian. So as these men 
and women in the public street listened to Peter 
and the one hundred and twenty others who were 
scattered all through the crowd, everywhere, 
speaking the same message about Christ to every- 
body they could get to listen, the hearers were 
pricked in their hearts and began to cry out, 
"Brethren, what shall we do?" 

Notice this — that it was their hearts, not their 
heads, that were pricked. The seat of sin is in 
the human heart. A while ago, when a noto- 



PRICKED HEARTS AND THEIR CURE. 209 

riously wicked man was executed in this State for 
the murder of his wife, a committee of physicians 
examined the man's brain, and made a report that 
they were not able to find any cause of his crime 
in that organ. Why should they? They were 
altogether on the wrong track. They were look- 
ing in the wrong place. The man's brain was 
keen and bright. The trouble with him was that 
he had a desperately wicked heart. His heart it 
was, and not his brain, that was " a cage of un- 
clean birds," "full of dead men's bones and all 
uncleanness." As a journalist said who com- 
mented on it at the time, he was bad not because 
the physical nature played bad tricks with the 
white matter of the brain, but because he chose to 
be. It is not strange that the man's downward 
career to crime could not be explained by the sur- 
geons' scalpels. It is impossible to find the 
sources of such wickedness by cutting into a man's 
head, as you would search for a fountain of water 
by boring into the ground. The Bible explained 
it long ago a good deal better than the surgeon can 
ever explain it with his knife : " Whatsoever a 
man soweth, that shall he also reap;" he that 
soweth the wind, shall reap the whirlwind. 

Universal human consciousness bears witness to 
the prevalence of sin in the human heart. As an- 
other said, not long since, the sense of sin is not 
14 



210 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

something that we have been educated into by liv- 
ing in a Christian country. All the traditions and 
legends and records of humanity in every race and 
tribe of the world bear testimony that men have 
ever been conscious of sin, and that the sinful 
heart has ever been a stern fact of human nature 
which no people have ever been able to ignore or 
reason away. The leaders of every age and tribe 
of mankind have never ceased to think, and talk, 
and (if they knew how to write) record the con- 
sciousness of sin which has shadowed their path- 
way and burdened their hearts. A semi-infidel 
critic has had the candor to confess that " a guile- 
less hero would be no hero for a drama." Take 
the thieves, hypocrites, liars, adulterers, conspira- 
tors, and murderers out of Shakespeare's trage- 
dies, and who would go to a theater to see them 
performed? The result of Peter's sermon, accu- 
sing these people to their face of their sins, shows 
that there is in every man's bosom a court which 
weighs his conduct and pronounces judgment upon 
it, and convinces him that sin in his own heart is 
a terrible reality. The Bible says that "fools 
make a mock at sin." Ingersoll calls a conviction 
of sin " a nightmare— the result of too much appe- 
tite and too little digestion." But it was some- 
thing more than a nightmare that made a far more 
honest infidel than Ingersoll say, speaking of the 



PRICKED HEARTS AND THEIR CURE. 211 

agony of his heart, " My principles have poisoned 
my friends, my extravagance has beggared my 
child, and my unkindness has murdered my wife ! 
O God, is there yet another hell? But hell itself 
will be a refuge if it only hide me from thy face." 

But, thanks be to God, the Gospel never warns 
and the Holy Spirit never convicts of sin without 
suggesting a remedy. And so Peter had some- 
thing to tell them when, in his faithful preaching 
of the divine truth, he had by the aid of the Holy 
Spirit brought the multitude under conviction of 
sin, until their hearts were pricked and wounded, 
and they cried out, " Brethren, what shall we do?" 
In substance his reply was this : " Repent at once, 
cease your evil ways, turn to the Lord Jesus 
Christ whom ye crucified, but whom the grave 
could not hold; be baptized in his name, showing 
forth your obedience to him and your confidence 
in him, and you shall receive the remission of your 
sins." Simple obedience to Jesus Christ is the 
only cure for pricked hearts. O brother, sister! 
conscious of your sin, longing to be free from it, 
why will you not at once obey the simple condi- 
tions of salvation and publicly confess the Lord 
Jesus Christ as your Savior? 

You remember the story of Naaman, the Sy- 
rian, who was a leper, and who had in the service 
of his wife a little maid, who spoke to her about 



212 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

Elisha and that he would be able to cure her mas- 
ter of leprosy. I want to recommend to you the 
prompt action of that man who had so little light 
to guide him. He did not raise any objections at 
all. He did not despise the news of a possible cure 
because the doctor was over in Israel, a foreign 
country; but he was willing to have the cure at 
the hands of anybody that could perform it. 
Neither was he silly enough to despise the mes- 
sage because it came from the mouth of a little 
slave-girl. It is the letter that is important, not 
the particular postman who brings it. The people 
about that Syrian court were wise folks.. Every- 
body about the place set to work as soon as they 
heard of the possibility of Naaman's being cured. 
The king of Syria wrote a letter to the king of 
Israel. They got together rich presents and made 
preparations for a quick journey. Naaman felt 
that everything was to be gained by promptness; 
while by delay he might lose everything. He not 
only went, but he went at once. The action of 
that Syrian general ought to rebuke some of you 
who hear me at this hour. How little light he 
had, and how much light you have! You have 
heard so much about Jesus Christ and his salva- 
tion that you are satisfied, intellectually, that no 
one is able to break the bondage of sin, cleanse 
your heart of evil, and give you the assurance of 



PRICKED HEARTS AND THEIR CURE. 213 

heaven and immortal life except Jesus Christ. 
Think of it ! Naaman went to his cure on the tes- 
timony of one little girl who quite possibly had 
never seen the prophet at all. Naaman did not 
even know exactly where he lived; yet he starts 
at once, seizing and acting upon what little knowl- 
edge he has, as a drowning man clutches at a float- 
ing plank. But think of the testimony that has 
surrounded you all your life long ! Many of your 
dearest friends, the people whom you have known 
and loved most, have been personally acquainted 
with Jesus Christ, and you have never doubted 
their sincerity. They have told you that the 
sweetest comfort of life has been the assurance of 
salvation they have found in Jesus Christ. And 
yet you hesitate and delay, and allow the foul lep- 
rosy of sin to spread in your heart and life. 

Mark Guy Pearse surely does not speak too 
strongly when he say s that there is only one word 
in the language that could have expressed the 
folly of Naaman if, instead of going to Samaria, 
he had sent for the little maid of Israel, and said : 
" Tell me all about your great prophet. What is 
his name? What is he like? What does he do? 
Where does he live?" And then, after half an 
hour's talk with her, he would send for her again 
in a week's time and hear something more about 
the prophet. How the little maid would have 



214 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

wrung her hands and cried, "Hear about it! No, 
my lord, you must go to him, and go quick!" 
Think if he should have told his musicians to sing 
of this Elisha and chant his greatness, and week 
after week should sit and listen to the story of the 
captive maiden. " I like to hear her, " says he, " she 
is so much in earnest, and her gestures are so 
graceful, and her words so well chosen." fool! 
and all the time the leprosy is eating into him 
with horrid cruelty, deeper and deeper, and every 
day he is growing more hideous and scarred, and 
his case becomes more desperate. And the longer 
he delays the more he questions about going at 
all. 

One day the king of Syria comes to see him. 
"Well, have you been?" he asks. 

"Been where?" says Naaman. 

" "Why, to the great prophet that can heal you 
of your leprosy," cries the king in astonishment. 

"No," says Naaman; "I have not exactly been 
to him, but I have heard all about him, and have 
got quite familiar with his name and history, and 
know a great deal that he has said and done." 

"But, surely," cries the disappointed king, "it 
were as well never to have heard of him if you do 
not go." 

Naaman gets weaker every day, and one day the 
news goes with hushed voice through the palace 



PRICKED HEARTS AND THEIR CURE. 215 

and the city, " Naaman is dead ; died of his lep- 
rosy. Dead! And he knew so much about the 
prophet!" And the little maid in the palace wails, 
" Would to God my lord had gone to the prophet 
that is in Samaria !" 

Oh, no; Naaman did not do that way. It is 
only in religion that men play the fool like that ; 
only in the more dreadful and deeper leprosy of the 
soul ! How could there be any more terrible folly 
than to hear about Christ as your Savior year in 
and year out and yet never come to him? Oh, 
cease this unwise course. Drop everything else, 
and come to the Christ who is able to save you 
from your sins ! 

Do not let the devil cheat you of your soul's sal- 
vation by any cunning sophistry. Sometimes he 
says to a man, "You have waited so long, you 
have wasted so many opportunities, there is so 
little left, that it is useless to come now." Don't 
let the devil cheat you. The poor dying thief upon 
the cross had wasted a whole lifetime, yet Christ 
did not rebuke him for coming, but lovingly re- 
ceived him. Professor Henry Drummond tells the 
story of a young student in the university where 
he is a professor. He was a fine, manly fellow, a 
medical student, a very Hercules in strength ; but 
he contracted typhoid fever and soon lay dying in 
a hospital. One of the physicians who attended 



216 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

him was an earnest Christian and a successful 
soul-winner, and he spoke to him about God and 
eternity. The young man listened, became anx- 
ious, and eagerly heard the story of redeeming 
love. "Will you give yourself now to Jesus?" 
asked the doctor. He did not answer for a while, 
and then, earnestly regarding the good man, he 
said, "But don't you think it would be awful 
mean just to make it up now, at my last gasp, 
with One I have rejected all my life?" " YejjJ it 
would be mean ; but, dear fellow, it would be far 
meaner not to do it. He wants you to do it now, 
for he has made you willing, and it would be 
doubly mean to reject a love that is pursuing you 
even to death." The dying man saw the point, 
and, appreciating the tenderness of the Savior's 
love, he accepted it with joyous thanksgiving. So 
I plead with you not to stay away because you 
have stayed away so long. The only return you 
can make for the past is to come now, at once, 
and from this moment give the Savior all your 
love and all your service. 



PETER, JOHN, AND A CRIPPLE. 



" In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk. And he 
took him by the right hand, and raised him up." — Acts iii. 
6, 7 (Revised Version). 

The historical setting of this picture is full of 
interest and suggestiveness. The glory of Pente- 
cost had passed by. After such a marvelous day 
of victory, in which three thousand souls had 
been added to the church, the temptation was to 
despise small things and the routine duties of daily 
Christian life. But we see Peter and John on 
their way to the temple at the hour of the ordinary 
prayer-meeting. I am always alarmed about a 
man who is full of enthusiasm for special missions 
and times of unusual excitement, but can never be 
depended on for the regular prayer-meeting and 
class-meeting. A genuine, wholesome Christian- 
ity will make a man loyal to the every-day duties 
of Christian life. That church is rich which has 
many people who are humble enough and loyal 
enough to Christ to faithfully stand by the house 
of God and perform the ordinary duties which 
devolve upon them. Let us not get too large for 
217 



218 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

following the example of our Master who went 
about doing good to humble people, in individual 
cases, and on common week-days. The tempta- 
tion is to feel that nothing is worth doing unless 
it is something that makes a large show. 

Dr. Williams, of Atlanta, Georgia, tells how he 
was struggling for a long time to get into a deeper 
religious experience. Finally, he was one day 
passing through a great Exposition and stopped in 
front of a potter at work. As he stood with a 
friend before the little stand and saw the workman 
fashioning the piece of clay, a great ugly lump, he 
thought of the words in the sixty -fourth chapter 
of Isaiah : " But now, O Lord, thou art our Father : 
we are the clay, and thou our potter ; and we all 
are the work of thy hands." The potter fashioned 
the clay for a moment and then threw it upon the 
lathe, and, with a few quick turns of the foot, it 
came out before him the rough mold of a beauti- 
ful Corinthian vase. He turned to his friend and 
said, " How beautiful ! Who would not like to be 
a Corinthian vase? How beautifully the potter 
understands his work !" The man turned it back 
into a lump again and dropped it on the lathe, and 
after a few deft touches it came out a vase of old 
Egyptian style. Anybody could afford to be an 
Egyptian vase, thought Dr. Williams; not quite 
as beautiful as the Corinthian, but valuable to a 



PETER, JOHN, AND A CRIPPLE. 219 



searcher for bric-a-brac. He threw it on the lathe 
again, and it came out a common table-plate. He 
did not like that so much. He threw it into a 
mass again, and it came out, to the doctor's con- 
sternation, a cuspidor. He said, " I don't want to 
be a cuspidor." But the clay found no fault with 
the potter. It seemed as well satisfied when a 
cuspidor as when it was a Corinthian vase. Then 
he looked at the beauty of the workmanship. 
"Well," he said, "the potter knows best." He 
turned away from the lathe and from the potter 
that day with some new thoughts, and said, " Now, 
Williams, you did not want to be a cuspidor. 
You would be a Corinthian vase; that is what you 
have been wanting to be all these days. You have 
been willing to be a piece of old Egyptian pottery, 
and have some one search you out and put you on 
the mantel, but you did not want to be a common 
table-plate, and you would not be a cuspidor for 
anything in the world." When he went to his 
room that night, the picture was still following 
him, and when he got down on his knees he said, 
" No, you would not, would you, Williams? But 
your Lord and your Master became a cuspidor for 
wicked men to spit upon ; no ! the servant wants 
to be greater than his lord." He wrestled there 
before God as Jacob did with the angel at the 
Jabbok ford, and when he got up from his knees 



220 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



it was with a holy joy in his heart that he stood 
again before God with his open Bible and bowed 
head, and said, "O Master, Savior, Jesus Christ, 
if you want to use me for a cuspidor or anything 
else, if it pleaseth thee, O thou great Potter, it is all 
I ask!" May that same spirit of humble consecra- 
tion possess all our hearts ! It is not how much 
show our lives make, but how much honest, faith- 
ful service there is in them for the Master, that is 
important. As the poet sings : 

" Beautiful faces are those that wear — 
It matters not whether dark or fair — 
Whole-souled honesty printed there. 

" Beautiful eyes are those that show — 
Like crystal panes where hearth -fires glow — 
Beautiful thoughts that burn below. 

" Beautiful lips are those whose words 
Leap from the heart like songs of birds, 
Yet whose utterance wisdom girds. 

"Beautiful hands are those that do 
Work that is earnest, brave, and true, 
Moment by moment, the long day through. 

"Beautiful feet are they that go 
On kindly ministry, to and fro, 
Down lowliest ways, if God wills so. 

" Beautiful shoulders are those that bear 
Ceaseless burdens of homely care, 
With patient grace and daily prayer. 



PETER, JOHN, AND A CRIPPLE. 



221 



" Beautiful lives are those that bless — 
Silent rivers of helpfulness 
Whose hidden fountains few may guess. 

"Beautiful twilight at set of sun ; 
Beautiful goal with race well run ; 
Beautiful rest with work well done ; 

"Beautiful graves where grasses creep, 
Where brown leaves fall, where drifts lie deep 
Over worn- out hands— oh ! beautiful sleep. " 

That is a suggestive sentence of Peter when the 
lame man asks of him an alms and he replies, 
" Silver and gold have I none ; but what I have, 
that give I thee." Christianity is a giving relig- 
ion. It is impossible that one should have the 
spirit of Christ and refuse to reach out his hand of 
help to those that need. If I speak to any who are 
specially tempted to selfishness, I entreat you to 
lose no opportunity to crush out that wicked and 
unchristian spirit. Mr. Moody tells the story of a 
wealthy farmer in this State who was converted. 
He had been a noted miser and a very selfish man. 
Soon after his conversion a poor man came to him 
one day to ask for help. He had been burned out, 
and had no provisions. This young convert 
thought he would be liberal and give him a ham 
from his smoke-house. He started toward the 
smoke-house, and on the way the devil tempted 
him and said, "Give him the smallest one you 



222 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



have." He struggled all the way as to whether 
he would give a large or a small one. In order to 
overcome his selfishness, he took down the biggest 
ham and gave it to the man. The tempter said, 
"You are a fool;" but he replied, "If you don't 
keep still, I will give him every ham I have in the 
smoke-house !" That is the wise spirit with which 
to resist the devil. Everything that we have be- 
longs to God. It is only loaned to us. We are 
trustees and must give an account of our steward- 
ship. Peter had no money to give to this man ; 
but he had something infinitely better than money 
— he could restore to him his health. Some of you 
have not much money that you can give either to 
your neighbor or to spread abroad the Gospel of 
Christ ; but you have hearts full of sympathy, you 
have the knowledge of your sins forgiven, you 
have the peace that passeth understanding; and 
these are riches for which our poor world is suffer- 
ing more than for anything else. 

There is another important thought here — that 
Peter entered upon the healing of this man with 
an entire personal consecration of himself. He 
not only demanded the man's attention to himself 
and commanded him in the name of Jesus of Naz- 
areth to walk, but he acted is though he believed 
it was going to be done and that he was glad to 
have a hand in it. Notice the language : " He took 



PETER, JOHN, AND A CRIPPLE. 



223 



him by the right hand, and raised him up." We 
want the consecration that will personally take 
hold upon people with all the power there is in us. 
You get interested in people for whom you do a 
personal service. Some poet says : 

"All's yours and you, 
All colored with your blood, or otherwise 
Just nothing to you. Why, I call you hard 
To general suffering. 

You weep for what you know. A red-haired child 
Sick in a fever, if you touch him once, 
Will set you weeping ; but a million sick — 
You could as soon weep for the rule of three. " 

That is the true secret of the joy and glory of 
service for others. Coming into personal contact, 
sympathy is aroused, and if we are filled with the 
grace of God, divine virtue will go out from us. 

Dr. Theodore Cuyler preached one Sunday in 
Dundee, Scotland, in the pulpit of Robert Mc- 
Cheyne. He asked some one : " Is there anybody 
living here who used to belong to his church?" 
The reply was, "Yes, that old gray-headed man." 
Dr. Cuyler introduced himself, and said, "What 
can you tell me about McCheyne?" This was the 
old man's answer : " I was a young man when he 
died, and a few days before he died he met me in 
the street and put his hand on my shoulder and 
said, 'Jemmie, how is it with your soul? I am 



224 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

going to see your sick sister. ' " The touch of Mc- 
Cheyne's hand on that Scotch lad's shoulder made 
the blood tingle in his veins fifty years after, when 
he was old and gray. God help us that we shall 
not be afraid to reach out our hands to people. 

But after all, these were only the methods of, 
communicating the divine power. Peter was 
conscious that he had something to give this man ; 
but the something was not his own, he was only 
the trustee of it. It was the magical name of 
Christ, which he was to speak in the man's ear, 
which was to do the work. "In the name of 
Jesus of Nazareth, walk." It would have meant 
nothing for Peter to have said that had his words 
not been accompanied by the Holy Ghost ; but the 
divine presence in them made them words of liv- 
ing power. As he uttered them and stretched out 
his hand to seize the man's hand, there was that 
about his whole attitude, the flash in his eye, the 
glow of expectation on his cheek, the posture of 
his body, the firm, strong grip of his hand which 
made the man's blood boil to his very heart, and 
as he looked in Peter's eyes all things seemed pos- 
sible. He never had walked, he had been crippled 
from his babyhood ; but the spirit of Peter — nay, 
the living Christ that was in Peter — aroused a 
strange sensation of faith and hope in his heart, 
and he made the effort to get up. There was a 



PETER, JOHN, AND A CRIPPLE. 



225 



tingling sensation in his ankles. The poor, crip- 
pled bones straightened and strengthened, and, 
wonder of wonders, he stood upon his feet. Every- 
body was astonished, a crowd gathered, but the 
healed man was only conscious that he could stand 
on his limbs. He takes a step or two to test it. 
It is no dream, for he can walk. Tehn his heart 
overflows and he goes wild with enthusiasm. He 
hops, and skips, and jumps, and leaps, and shouts 
praises unto God ! 

Oh, there are some here this morning who are 
crippled by sin, and are lying at the very gate of 
the temple — the beautiful gate arched over with 
the Savior's love. Some of you have been lying 
there for a long time. Oh, for the power of the 
Holy Spirit to come down upon me so that I may 
look in your eyes and grasp you by the hand and 
speak the magic words, " In the name of Jesus of 
Nazareth, walk!" 
15 



TURNING OVER A NEW LEAF. 



"Repent ye therefore, and turn again, that your sins 
may be blotted out." — Acts iii. 19 (Revised Version). 

Repentance lies at the very first step toward 
salvation. It is the key which unlocks the outer 
gate. John the Baptist came preaching in the 
wilderness the doctrine of repentance. Jesus took 
up the message where he left off and preached, 
"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." 
There is no other way into the fold. Men have 
sought easier ways, but they have always failed. 
The only way into the kingdom of God is through 
repentance. Thomas Moore, the poet, in his song 
of "Paradise and the Peri," illustrates this truth 
with great clearness. He says that, — 

"One morn a Peri at the gate 
Of Eden stood disconsolate. 
And as she listened to the springs 
Of life within like music flowing, 
And caught the light upon her wings 
Through the half -open portal glowing, 
She wept to think her recreant race 
Should e'er have lost that glorious place." 
226 



TURNING OVER A NEW LEAF. 227 



So sad was she about it that her broken heart 
expressed its sorrow in a song of touching grief 
which attracted the notice of the angel whose place 
of honor was to stand guard at the gates of light. 
He listened to her sad song until his eyes were 
suffused with tears, and he replied to her, — 

" 'Nymph of a fair but erring line, ' 
Gently he said, 'One hope is thine. 
'Tis written in the book of fate, 
The Peri yet may be forgiven 
Who brings to this eternal gate 
The gift that is most dear to heaven. 
Go seek it, and redeem thy sin ; 
'Tis sweet to let the pardoned in. 

A flash of hope came into the eyes of the exiled 
wanderer, and full of purpose sublime — 

" Rapidly as comets run 
To the embraces of the sun 
Down the blue vault the Peri flies. " 

She went everywhere, seeking earnestly to find 
what would be the most precious gift to carry back 
to the gates of light. She came at length to where 
an army of brave men were fighting against op- 
pression, inspired by love of liberty and noble pa- 
triotism. In the midst of the cruel battle she saw 
a brave youth beset by his enemies. He fought 
nobly against overmastering arms, but finally fell 



228 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



bleeding and dying to the earth. The Peri flew 
and caught the — 

"Last glorious drop his heart had shed 
Before its freeborn spirit fled. 
'Be this, ' she cried, as she winged her flight, 
'My welcome gift at the gates of light. 
. . . Blood like this 
For liberty shed so holy is. 
Oh, if there be on this earthly sphere 
A boon, an offering heaven holds dear, 
'Tis the last libation Liberty draws 
From the heart that bleeds and breaks in her cause. 

However we may honor patriotism and heroic 
valor in behalf of one's native land, or for a noble 
cause, history has proved to us that it has no 
power to cleanse a wicked heart, or to fit a sinful 
soul for the fellowships of the kingdom of heaven. 
Whoever shall trust in any record of works of 
righteousness which he has done to give him en- 
trance into the gates of light, will be as disap- 
pointed as the Peri was when she heard the sad 
words, — 

"Sweet is our welcome to the brave 
Who die thus for their native land. 
But see, alas ! the crystal bar 
Of Eden moves not. Holier far 
Than even this drop the boon must be 
That opes the gates of heaven for thee. " 



TURNING OVER A NEW LEAF. 229 



The Peri was greatly disappointed, but the sense 
of need in her famished spirit was so great that 
she gathered courage again and winged her way- 
back to our poor earth. In her search she lights 
upon a city that is suffering from a deadly plague. 
Looking upon the misery of the people, she finds 
a young man who is dying from the loathsome 
and deadly disease and from whom all have fled 
except one, a woman who loves him and who, 
reckless of danger from the plague, has searched 
him out and has remained to comfort the one so 
dear to her, tho at the cost of her own life. 

" One struggle and the pain is past, 
Her lover is no longer living ; 
One kiss the maiden gives, one last 
Long kiss, which she expires in giving. 
This farewell sigh of that vanishing soul, 
As true as e'er warmed a woman's breast, 
Softly the Peri stole, and then, 
Bearing to heaven that precious sigh 
Of pure, self-sacrificing love" — 

she came once more to the guardian angel at 
the gates of light. She fondly thought that in 
that self -forgetful love of womanhood there was 
something so infinitely precious that before it the 
great gate would swing on its hinges. But, alas ! 
how many of us have seen that priceless boon of a 
woman's love lavished upon the sinner's heart 



230 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



only to be trampled under his heel. How many a 
self-denying woman has followed the footsteps of 
a drunkard with the patience of an angel ; given 
her money, her time, her love unstinted , to try to 
win the one so dear to her away from the loath- 
some bondage that enthralled him ; but all in vain ! 
And so we are not astonished that the guardian 
angel shook his head and said, "Not yet." 

" 'True was that maiden, and her story 
By seraph eyes shall long be read ; 
But, Peri, see ; the crystal bar 
Of Eden moves not ; holier far 
Than even this sigh the gift must be 
That opes the gates of heaven for thee. 

Greatly discouraged and sadly cast down, but 
patiently persevering so long as there should be 
one ray of hope, Peri slowly wings her way back 
to earth again, seeking — 

" Where beneath the moon 
In earth or ocean lies the boon, 
The charm, that can restore 
An erring spirit to the skies." 

While pursuing her almost hopeless search, she 
discovers a beautiful little child playing among 
the wild-flowers, himself the sweetest flower of 
them all. And after a while, tired at his play, he 



TURNING OVER A NEW LEAF. 231 

lies down amid the blossoms and the grasses and 
fails into an innocent, childish sleep. While he is 
sleeping, a rider who has had a long journey and 
is evidently very weary throws himself from his 
fagged steed to get a drink at a spring near where 
the little boy slumbers among the flowers. The 
man is fierce and repulsive-looking. His brow is 
haggard, and there is a certain sullen ferocity in 
his look — 

"A mixture dire 
Like thunder-clouds of gloom and fire, 
In which the Peri's eye could read 
Dark tales of many a ruthless deed : 
The ruined maid, the shrine profaned, 
Oaths forsaken, and the threshold stained 
With blood of guests were written ; all 
Black as the damning drops that fall 
From the denouncing angel's pen 
Ere Mercy wipes them out again." 

The man takes a long, deep draught of the cool 
water, and as he turns away from the spring his 
wicked eyes light by chance on the form of the 
innocent sleeper. Something in the sweet face of 
the child touches him deeply, and he stops to look 
again. While he is thus engaged, the vesper-bells 
in the distance ring out on the calm air of the 
evening, calling to prayer. The little boy awakes 
from his slumber and, dropping down on his knees 



232 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



among the flowers, lifts his childish voice in 
prayer. Memory carries the wicked man back 
over the wayward path of his life, and across the 
dark years he has spent in sin, to the time when 
he, too, was a little boy, innocent and simple and 
pure as the one kneeling there before him. He 
sees again the picture of himself before he had 
learned to take God's name in vain, but only used 
it in reverence and in prayer. 

" He hung his head ; each nobler aim 
And hope and feeling which had slept 
From boyhood's hour that instant came 
Fresh o'er him, and he wept — he wept 
Blest tears of soul-felt penitence 
In whose benign, redeeming flow 
Is felt the first and only sense 
Of guiltless joy that guilt can know. 

"And now behold him kneeling there 
Beside that child in humble prayer, 
While the same sunbeam shines upon 
The guilty and the guiltless one, 
And hymns of joy proclaim through heaven 
The triumph of a soul forgiven. " 

That tear of penitence it is that the Peri seizes 
upon with a new and more glorious hope than 
ever. As she flies toward the heavenly gate her 
track through the skies is illuminated with a 



TURNING OVER A NEW LEAF. 233 



light from the glory world. A radiance shines 
about her more beautiful than earth has ever 
known — 

" A light more lovely far 
Than ever came from earth or star. 
Ah ! well the enraptured Peri knew 
'Twas a bright glance the angel threw 
From heaven's gate to hail that tear, 
The harbinger of glory near. " 

Thank God! that picture is no mere poetic 
fancy; it is only an elaboration of the blessed 
declaration of the Lord Jesus Christ that " There 
is joy among the angels of God over one sinner 
that repenteth." 

We have suggested to us in the language of the 
text the great characteristic of repentance in the 
words "turn again." There is a great deal of 
confusion in the minds of many people as to what 
repentance is. People get it mixed up with being 
sorry for sin. But repentance and sorrow for sin 
are very separate and distinct things. There is 
plenty of sorrow for sin in remorse, but no real 
repentance. As some poet sings,— 

" Repentance and remorse are not the same ; 
That is a heavenly, this an earthly flame : 
One springs from love and is a welcome guest ; 
And one an iron tyrant o'er the breast. 



234 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



Repentance weeps before the Crucified ; 
Remorse is nothing more than wounded pride. 
Remorse through horror into hell is driven, 
While true repentance always goes to heaven. " 

Many people are sorry for their sins and imag- 
ine there is some virtue in their sorrow ; but there 
is not unless it; leads them to repentance, the very 
essence of which is "turning again." The Bible 
speaks of a "godly sorrow" which "worketh a 
repentance that needeth not to be repented of." 
The reason it does not need to be repented of is 
that it prompts the sinner that experiences it to 
change the course of his conduct and causes him 
"to cease to do evil and begin to do well." 

Sometimes men who are convicted of sin, whose 
conscience tells them they are doing wrong, and 
whose judgment assures them that it is their duty 
to turn from their sins and confess Christ, hesitate 
and hold back because they think they ought to 
wait for some overpowering tempest of sorrow and 
grief before they act in the acceptance of the terms 
of salvation. Mr. Beecher used to illustrate it this 
way : Two children are quarreling ; they have dis- 
obeyed their father and their mother, and they 
have come to blows, and they are both arraigned 
before the mother. One of them, as the mother 
looks upon him, bursts into tears and says: "O 
mother, I am sorry, I am sorry," and he rushes to 



TURNING OVER A NEW LEAF. 235 



her, buries his head in her lap, and is forgiven. 
The other says: "I am not sorry, and I am not 
going to be sorry," and the mother talks to him, 
but he pouts all the more. By and by she admin- 
isters some punishment; that makes him more 
obstinate, and he fights it out all the afternoon and 
evening. Then he is sent to bed without his supper. 
Next morning he gets up and has nothing to eat. 
About noon, or toward night, he begins to come 
round, and finally he goes sneaking up to his 
mother and says: "Mother, I think I was wrong." 
Now which was the nobler of the two dispositions? 
The moment that one of them saw that he was 
wrong he gave up and confessed it; the other dog- 
gedly, obstinately, meanly, held out. Does not 
that illustrate the condition of some who hear me? 
You are satisfied that Jesus Christ is the Savior 
of the world. In your best hours you desire to be 
a Christian, and you are conscious as I speak that 
it is your duty to at once give yourself up to a 
Christian life. You are also conscious that you 
know enough about it to begin to change your life 
right here and now by openly confessing Christ, 
and, turning about, ask him to convert your 
soul and blot out your transgressions. Yet you 
are waiting for some greater influence, some pow- 
erful persuasion that you will not be able to resist. 
My brother, the noblest thing you can do is not to 



236 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



wait to be overwhelmed with the discipline of God 
or the persuasions of the Holy Spirit ; but seeing 
that you are in the wrong, and have sinned against 
God, confess it at once, and turn about face, and 
begin to do promptly that which is right. Begin 
right where you are. Don't wait for anything else. 

A professional diver has in his house what seems 
a very strange ornament for a mantel. It is a 
bunch of oyster shells holding fast a piece of 
printed paper. The possessor of this ornament 
was diving one day, when he observed, at the bot- 
tom of the sea, this oyster on a rock with the piece 
of paper in its mouth. The diver detached the 
oyster and held the paper up close to the goggles 
of his head-dress and commenced to read. It was 
a little gospel tract earnestly calling upon whoever 
should read it to repent at once and give his heart 
to God. It came upon him so unexpectedly and 
so impressed his unconverted heart, that he said : 
" I can not hold out against God's mercy in Christ 
any longer, since it pursues me thus." And down 
there at the bottom of the sea he repented, he 
turned again, he breathed out his heart to God in 
prayer, and when he came back to the top of the 
water it was with the glad consciousness that his 
sins were blotted out. Some of you who hear me 
here are clear down at the bottom of a sea of 
difficulties and perplexities and sinful entangle- 



TURNING OVER A NEW LEAF. 237 



ments that make it seem impossible for you to 
become a Christian; but, my friends, your part 
is simply to turn about and face the other way, and 
Jesus Christ will cut the whole net of your entangle- 
ments with one thrust of his glittering sword. 

How splendidly suggestive is the word that is 
used here to express the complete annihilation of 
our sins if we honestly repent of them and turn to 
Christ in faith ! It brings back to our minds the 
words of the Lord through the mouth of his 
prophet Isaiah : " Come now, and let us reason to- 
gether, saith the Lord: tho your sins be as 
scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; tho 
they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." 
They tell us that there is a little river in the island 
of Corsica which has the remarkable property of 
whitening anything that is thrown into it. Its 
waters are as clear as crystal, and every stone or 
other object seen on the bed of this wonderful 
stream is as white as snow. Any kind of metal, 
but particularly iron, when dipped into it, has the 
appearance of being plated with silver. That is 
very wonderful, but not so marvelous nor so benefi- 
cent as that — 

" Fountain filled with blood, 

Drawn from Immanuel's veins ;" 

where 

" Sinners, plunged beneath that flood, 
Lose all their guilty stains." 



THE ONE SAVING NAME. 



"And in none other is there salvation: for neither is 
there any other name under heaven, that is given among 
men, wherein we must be saved. "—Acts iv. 12 (Revised 
Version) . 

This is the conclusion of Peter's splendid tribute 
to Christ when the multitude were marveling con- 
cerning the healing of the lame man at the gate of 
the temple. Annas and Caiaphas, who had had 
so much to do with the crucifixion of Christ, found 
that they had not put down this new religion by 
crucifying Jesus. It must have given those 
shrewd men much food for earnest thought when 
Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, 
"Ye rulers of the people, and elders, if we this 
day are examined concerning a good deed done to 
an impotent man, by what means this man is 
made whole ; be it known unto you all, and to all 
the people of Israel, that in the name of Jesus 
Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God 
raised from the dead, even in him doth this man 
stand here before you whole. He is the stone 

which was set at nought of you the builders, which 
238 



THE ONE SAVING NAME. 



239 



was made the head of the corner. And in none 
other is there salvation ; for neither is there any 
other name under heaven, that is given among 
men, wherein we must be saved." 

This question of salvation is as interesting to us 
as it was to Peter. Christ would not have come 
from heaven to share our sorrow and grief, to 
suffer loneliness and disgrace and shame, and die 
upon the cross for our redemption, unless there 
were something from which we have need to be 
saved. As has been well said, the very thought 
of saving suggests the most perilous and danger- 
ous situations. When we hear the word saved 
applied to a fellow-being, it calls before our imagi- 
nation the vision of the fireman climbing his lad- 
der through the flames in a desperate attempt to 
rescue some poor man or woman or child who 
would otherwise be lost ; or we think of the life- 
boat amid wild winds and tumbling seas, striving 
to reach the wreck where, clinging to the mast or 
the rigging, are the half -perished crew, lost unless 
some one comes to save them ; or we see a swim- 
mer struggling desperately to reach a drowning 
man. Many times when we use the word we 
think of the doctor at the bedside in the sick- 
room, patient and alert, watching through the 
weary hours, making a brave fight for the life of 
the sufferer. And what joy there is when in a 



240 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

critical case the crisis has passed, and the few 
hours which must decide for life or death have 
gone, and you leave the room with the doctor, who 
with a sigh of relief says, " I think he is saved now, 
and we will pull him through all right. " Those are 
the kind of things to which God compares the sal- 
vation of the soul from sin. Sin is not a small 
matter. It is so loathsome and terrible a thing 
that in order to save us from it, and its undying 
penalty, God in his great love gave Jesus to come 
and live and suffer and die — to be our Savior. Is 
it not significant that the most terrible, awful words 
spoken in the Bible concerning the punishment for 
sin are spoken by the tender lips of Jesus — the lips 
that drank the wormwood and the gall to save us? 
They are words that none of us should ever speak 
except in fellowship with the tenderness and grief 
of Jesus : " Then shall he say also unto them that 
are on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, 
into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil 
and his angels." There was need of salvation or 
Jesus would not have come to save us. There was 
no other way, and there is no other way. 

Bishop Newman tells the story of one of the 
means of torture in olden Germany. There was a 
prison of exquisite beauty; its floors and walls 
were highly polished ; it was roofless so that the 
inmates could look out upon the beautiful sky. A 



THE ONE SAVING NAME. 



241 



prisoner was placed therein, and for a moment 
congratulated himself upon the polish and splendor 
of his apartments : he could freely breathe the fresh 
air and see the stars that deck the brow of night, 
or the sun that rose in glory. But after a time he 
observed that the walls were gradually approach- 
ing him. Softly, noiselessly, as if by the force of 
gravitation, those walls grew nearer, inch by inch, 
and as they came closer and closer the cold sweat 
stood upon his brow, for he saw that they were 
soon to embrace him in the arms of death. There 
was but one way of escape, and that was from 
above; a friendly hand might possibly be put 
down, but there was no such friendly hand for 
him. That represents the condition of every one of 
us — the walls are approaching, there is only one 
way of escape, and that is from above. Jesus 
Christ from the throne of heaven is reaching down 
his hand of power into our dungeons; our only 
hope is to grasp it, or the walls of our own sins 
will crush us to death. Thank God ! that hand is 
stretched down to us, and it is full of love and 
power to save sinners. No matter how helpless 
you are in your own strength, if you will just 
thrust your weak, trembling hand into the hand of 
Jesus he will lift you out of the pit into the sun- 
light of his forgiving mercy. 

Luther tells us that once upon a time the devil 
16 



242 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

said to him, " Master Luther, thou art a great sin- 
ner and thou wilt be damned." 

"'Stop, stop,' I said, 'one thing at a time. I 
am a great sinner, it is true — tho thou hast no 
right to say so. I confess it. What next?' 

" 'Therefore thou shalt be damned,' quoth he. 

"'That is not good reasoning,' said I. 'It is 
true that I am a great sinner, but it is written, 
" Christ Jesus came to save sinners, " therefore I 
shall be saved ! Now go thy way. ' 

" So did I cut off the devil with his own sword, 
and he went away sorrowing because he could not 
cast me down by calling me a sinner." 

But the only way we can escape being cast down 
by our sins is to accept the atonement made for us 
by the Lord Jesus Christ. It is left entirely to the 
choice of our own wills. Whittier sings : 

" Tho God be good and free be heaven, 
No force divine can love compel ; 
And, tho the song of sins forgiven 
May sound through lowest hell, 

"The sweet persuasion of his voice 
Respects thy sanctity of will. 

"A tenderer light than moon or sun, 
Than song of earth a sweeter hymn, 
May shine and sound forever on 
And thou be deaf and dim. 



THE ONE SAVING NAME. 



243 



" Forever round the Mercy Seat 

The guiding light of love shall burn ; 
But what if, habit-bound, thy feet 
Shall lack the will to turn? 

"What if thine eyes refuse to see, 

Thine ear of heaven's free welcome fail, 
And thou a willing captive be, — 
Thyself thine own dark jail?" 

It only remains for me, then, to again invite 
you to come to Jesus, and find in him salvation. 
Do not let any bugbear such as a lack of feeling or 
lack of deeper sorrow for sin, or anything of the 
sort, keep you from just coming to Jesus himself. 
I tried to tell you last night that the essence of re- 
pentance was not in sorrow for sin, altho that 
might work a repentance, but in turning to God. 
Dr. Rainsf ord tells an interesting story of a case 
which came in his own personal experience. He 
had in his parish a young doctor who interested 
him very much. Tho he went about his busi- 
ness and did not give in that he was ill, it was 
plain to everybody that while he was healing 
others he was a dying man himself. It was con- 
sumption — a clear case and a quick one. The 
young man never allowed any allusion to his state 
of health, but the disease galloped on all the same. 
The minister tried to get acquainted with him. 
He called again and again at the house, but only 



244 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

once had a chance to talk with him and make a 
bare acquaintance. After that he always dodged 
the preacher, fearing something would be said to 
him about his spiritual condition. But finally, one 
morning about daylight, a messenger came and 
said in an excited voice : 

" It's Bailey that wants you, sir— Dr. Bailey. 
For God's sake, come at once!" 

He went over as quickly as he could. It was a 
dark winter morning in the shortest of da}~s. Poor 
Bailey had burst a blood-vessel and was very low — 
dying they feared — gasping for breath, so that he 
was nearly speechless. 

"Oh," he breathed in whispers, as the minister 
bent his ear over him, " Oh, I thought you would 
never come !" 

" It's the words of God you want now. Just lis- 
ten to them : 'Him that cometh to me, I will in no 
wise cast out.' Do you hear it? Him that com- 
eth; him that cometh ! Will you come?" 

"He'll not have me to come without repent- 
ance," gasped the sick man. 

"Oh, don't be putting a stumbling-block in the 
way ! The way is all open to Christ. He is the 
way himself. Just start in the way the first step, 
and you are at him already." 

But, poor fellow, he did not seem to be able to 
take it in. He groaned in anguish and looked 



THE ONE SAVING NAME. 



245 



hopelessly up into the minister's face. Ah, few 
of you know what a minister lives through in a 
time like that! I have been there, again and 
again, when it seemed if all the interest of the uni- 
verse centered in the decision of the next fifteen 
minutes. 

The minister said to him, " Do you know about 
the prodigal son?" 

" Not much. I have never read my Bible, nor 
gone to church, nor cared for any such thing." 

So he repeated to him the parable of the prodi- 
gal. He had left his Bible at home, but he knew 
all the sweet words. When he came to the place — 
" He came to himself" — he stopped a bit there. 

" Now what brought him to himself?" 

"Oh," gasped the man, "I suppose he knew he 
had nothing but husks, and he — " 

"No," the minister replied, "that was not it, 
Bailey. You have known for a long time that 
there is nothing but husks in this world. Now 
what brought him to himself?" 

" Tell me the story again," he whispered. 

Dr. Rainsford began and told it over till he came 
to the same place. 

"Now what does it mean, Bailey — 'He came to 
himself'?" 

"Well," groaned he, pitifully, "well, he found 
out that he was a bad one, — " 



246 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



" Oh, no, that was not it ! You've always known 
you were a bad one. He always knew he was a bad 
one.. Now what was it — 'he came to himself?" 

" Would you just tell me the whole story once 
more from the first?" he gasped. 

He was not doing this to make time. There 
was no time to be made ! He was about through 
with time. But his mind was toiling with the 
subject. 

So the minister repeated the story again, and 
stopped at the old spot with the old question: 
" Now what was it he did when 'he came to him- 
self?" 

At this point a strange thing took place. It was 
an ill-lighted place; the muggy twilight of a sul- 
len, cloudy morning was struggling in at the win- 
dows, and only partially dispelled the shadows of 
the room. But there flashed a sudden light from 
the pallid face of poor Bailey that was fairly a 
glory-gleam from the face of God. 

"What was it, Bailey, when 'he came to him- 
self?" said the minister, coming close, with his 
own heart in his throat. 

"He remembered that he had a father." 

And at that moment poor Bailey knew that he 
had a Father ! 

" Did he tell his poor boy to stand off and repent 
before he came near the house?" 



THE ONE SAVING NAME. 247 



" Oh, no !" breathed the boy, with a smile. 
" Did he tell him to stay away till he had better 
clothes, till he was clean and tidy?" 
"Oh, no!" 

" Oh, but he ran, he ran — the father did — when 
he was a great way off, and fell upon his neck, 
and kissed him ; and he brought out the best robe ; 
and put a ring on his hand — all he needed for his 
comfort and cleansing; and more and above — 
things he didn't need — things that were just for 
beauty and joy." 

But there was no use talking any farther. 
Bailey knew all about it, with his face so full of 
rapture, and shining so as no painter ever could 
paint it. The same light that shone in the face of 
Moses and of Jesus, the light we see shining in the 
face of many an old saint, was beaming from 
Bailey's face the instant " he remembered he had 
a Father." 

It was six weeks before Bailey crossed over the 
river — six weeks of glorious testimony for Christ. 
A day or two before his death the minister called 
to see him and found a young lawyer, a friend of 
his, with him. The young lawyer was not a 
Christian, and when he saw who it was coming 
in, he tried to slip away, but the minister called 
him back, hoping to win him too. 

" Well," he said, " it is not so bad a thing to say 



248 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FEIENDS. 

good-by to Bailey since he knows just where he is 
going. Ask him where he is going; he'll tell you. 
Ask him yourself." 

So the young lawyer stiffened up his voice — 
tried to, at least, but he did not make out very 
well. 

"Where is it, Bailey?" he said. 

Oh, how that face lit up! Oh, how clear was 
the whispered answer, with the beautiful upward 
glance : 

"To Father!" 

"Ask him how he knows it; he'll tell you; he 
knows. Ask him how he knows it," said the 
minister to the lawyer. 

" How do you know it, Bailey?" said he, with a 
half sob. 

The wonderful look grew more intense on the 
illuminated face. 

" Father never lies ! " 

"And so," says Dr. Rainsford, "he went home 
to glory, with the light shining upon him even 
before he crossed the river." 

So I beg of you to let nothing keep you from 
simply coming to the Savior. With childlike 
simplicity accept his loving invitation and trust 
him as your all in all. 



CHRISTIANITY, A RELIGION OF JOY. 



"Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and pro- 
claimed unto them the Christ. And the multitudes gave 
heed with one accord unto the things that were spoken by 
Philip, when they heard, and saw the signs which he did. 
For from many of those which had unclean spirits, they 
came out, crying with a loud voice : and many that were 
palsied, and that were lame, were healed. And there was 
much joy in that city. "— Acts viii. 5-8 (Revised Version). 

Christianity is a religion of joy. The proph- 
ets for three thousand years before the coming of 
Christ declared that it should be so. The angels 
that sang to the shepherds the anthem at the Sa- 
vior's birth declared that they heralded a time of 
good tidings and great joy. The ministry of Jesus 
brought comfort and blessings and joy to the people 
wherever he went. The blind men who begged 
by the wayside, the leper who drew near with fear 
and trembling, the sick man by the healing pool, 
the mother following her son to the grave — all felt 
the heavenly kindliness of his presence. About 
every home he entered he might have said, as he 
did of the house of Zaccheus, " Salvation is come to 
this house." For while there were some that did 
249 



250 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



not yield to him, and whom therefore he could not 
save, to all who opened their hearts to receive him 
he was healing for the sick, forgiveness for the 
sinful, hope for the discouraged, joy and gladness 
for the doubting and the sad. One of his sweet- 
est promises to the disciples was that his joy should 
remain with them and that no one should be able 
to take it away from them. And so with the open- 
ing ministry of those first Christians, one of the 
chief characteristics of the result of their preach- 
ing was that it brought great joy to the people. 

Philip went down to Samaria and proclaimed 
Christ unto the people, and the result was that 
there was great joy in that city. And why should 
there not have been? One of the deepest longings 
of the human soul is to feel sure that the heart of 
the God who reigns over the universe cares for us 
and sympathizes with us and loves us. Philip 
went down to Samaria to preach the glorious truth 
that God so loved the world that Jesus Christ had 
come among men to show forth God's heart to us; 
that the love of the Savior was so great that he 
had given his life for a world lost in sin and 
iniquity. 

There had never been any such conception of 
love as that. The greatest love the world had ever 
known is described truly by Jesus when he says : 
" Greater love hath no man than this, that a man 



CHRISTIANITY, A RELIGION OF JOY. 251 



lay down his life for his friends." We have some 
wonderful illustrations, now and then, of such love. 
During the civil war, in a great naval battle when 
the Union squadron under Farragut entered Mobile 
Bay the monitor Tecumseh was struck by a torpedo 
and began to sink. The only way of escape from 
the room where the captain and pilot were was by 
a narrow ladder and a small door through which 
only one could go at a time. The pilot and cap- 
tain both sprang instinctively for the ladder at the 
same moment, but the instant Captain Craven saw 
that another man was seeking life, he stepped back 
with a courteous cry, "After you, pilot!" And 
the brave man went down with his ship into 
the sea. That was a glorious deed, but the pilot 
was his friend. Philip went down to Samaria 
to preach about a Savior who died for his 
enemies. 

A few weeks ago in a neighboring city a house 
was on fire in the night, and there was great 
danger that the family in the second story would 
burn to death. The father had gone out to see if 
the fire could not be extinguished before he knew 
the danger was so great, and he was cut off and 
could not return to them. He shouted from the 
outside, and as the mother threw up the window 
he begged her to throw the children to him. It 
was dangerous, of course, but it was the only hope. 



252 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

There were five of them. She helped the oldest 
out first, and then held him in her arms, feeling 
as only a mother can, and dropped him down the 
side of the wall. The father caught him safely in 
his arms and that encouraged her ; but they were 
in a fearful plight, the room was full of hot, blind- 
ing smoke and they were almost suffocated. She 
dropped three others, one after another, safely; 
then the flames burst through into the room ; but 
a little two-year-old, where was he? The poor little 
fellow was suffocating on the floor in one corner of 
the room, and could not even answer her cry ; but 
the mother would not leave without him. In that 
awful hell of fire she searched until she found him, 
and carried him to the window and dropped him 
unharmed into his father's arms. Then, burned 
and blinded by smoke and flame, she herself 
jumped from the window. It cost her her life, 
and she died in a few hours. It was a heroic, 
glorious deed; but it was for her children that she 
gave her life. But Philip went down to Samaria 
to preach about a Savior who was rich, and who 
became poor that those who were sinful and un- 
worthy might become rich; a Savior who wore a 
crown of glory, and put it aside and came down to 
earth and wore a crown of thorns, that he might 
save from their sins wicked men; a Savior who 
came to seek after the lost, after the unlovable, 



CHRISTIANITY, A RELIGION OF JOY. 253 



after hopeless ones. Oh, no messenger ever carried 
news that was more likely to give joy to a city 
than that ! 

Another great longing of the human soul is for 
a consciousness of safety : to be assured that what- 
ever happens to us is going to bring us blessing. 
There is no greater source of joy than to be sure 
that the everlasting arms of God are beneath us; 
that we are at peace and harmony with him 
whose hand is over all; that all things work to- 
gether for our good, because we love him. 

Dr. A. C. Dixon tells the story of a gentleman 
w 7 ho was going through the Zoological Gardens in 
London, when the rules were not so strict as they 
are now, having with him a little unruly dog. 
Coming to the lion's cage he said to the keeper, 
"You may throw that dog to the lion." The 
keeper chased the little animal around until he 
caught him, opened the door, and cast him into 
the cage. The big lion looked at the dog as it lay 
trembling before him ; then reached out one paw 
and stroked its head, and then the other paw and 
stroked it; and finally drew the trembling little 
creature up to himself. They made friends. A 
few weeks afterward the owner of the dog, passing 
through the garden, thought he would go round 
and look at the cage into which his dog had been 
cast; and there, looking through the bars of the 



254 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

cage, was the little dog, walking around as inde- 
pendently as the lion, perfectly safe. Said the 
man to the keeper, " I have repented of my angry 
fit; I believe I will take that dog home again. 
The children have missed it." "Well, here are 
the keys," said the keeper, "help yourself." But 
he dared not open the cage. That dog, under the 
protection of the lion, was perfectly safe. The 
lion with one stroke of his paw could have crushed 
him to death ; but when he saw fit to throw the 
strength of that paw over the dog for protection he 
was safe. Philip went down to Samaria to preach 
to men and women who had thought with dread 
and fear about a God who would punish them for 
their sins. There is among all peoples such a con- 
ception of God. In heathen lands the old idols 
are often equipped, with instruments of torture and 
cruelty. But Philip went to preach about the God 
who loved the world, and had given the Lord Jesus 
Christ to be their Savior, and if they would ac- 
cept his salvation the strong arm of his love and 
power should be about them and give them peace. 
Was that not enough to give joy in the city of 
Samaria? 

Another great longing of our souls is to know 
something of our own nature and to be sure that we 
are of a high and noble race. Make a man believe 
that he is of no higher order than the ox or the 



CHRISTIANITY, A RELIGION OF JOY. 255 

dog, that he is only a chemical combination of 
earthly things, that he has no kinship with heaven, 
and it is impossible that he shall be capable of deep 
and abiding joy. His horizon is too little for that. 
A man can not afford to risk anything or to deny 
himself anything for the sake of love or hope or 
any of those noble sources of highest joy, if he is 
only an animal with but a few days to live, and 
even those few uncertain. 

Some years ago, when wages were very low, a 
Vermont farmer attempted to increase the small 
income of his farm by a contract of lumbering. 
He had for an assistant a tall, lank youth of eigh- 
teen. In the late fall the trees were cut and drawn 
together in a pile on the brink of a steep hill where, 
when there should be sufficient snow, they could 
be easily loaded on a sled and drawn to the mill. 
A large pile had thus been accumulated when the 
blocking that held them in place suddenly gave 
way and the logs began to roll down the steep in- 
cline. The young man was standing at the mo- 
ment directly in their path, and the farmer shouted 
to him to run for his life. Instead of this, he 
dropped into a little hollow that chanced to be near, 
and the huge logs came down and buried him 
several logs deep. The farmer supposed that he 
had been instantly killed. The logs were too 
heavy for him to remove alone, and with much 



256 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

difficulty he secured the assistance of several men. 
When the logs were rolled away, the youth crawled 
out unharmed. "Why didn't you run, you idiot, 
as I told you?" said the angry farmer. "Do you 
s'pose I am going to run for ten dollars a month?" 
was the indignant reply. 

In the boy's stumbling wit is a great and im- 
portant truth. You can not get a great life, full of 
nobility and courage, entering into sympathy with 
the highest and holiest things, capable of a well of 
joy that shall spring up in the heart, buoying one 
up under all circumstances, unless there is the con- 
sciousness of something nobler about the soul than 
the things of earth. Well does David say to the 
Lord, "I will run in the way of thy command- 
ments, when thou shalt enlarge my heart." Philip 
went down to Samaria with the glorious news that 
they were the children of God, and that the Father 
loved them so much, even in their waywardness, 
that he had given their Elder Brother to come and 
suffer and die to win them back to their lost 
inheritance. 

And the best of it was, under the preaching of 
Philip every one that tested the glorious news that 
he brought to them, and who turned from sin and 
accepted Christ as a personal Savior, found the 
good news true. Men who had been possessed by 
evil spirits, who had been the skeleton in their 



CHRISTIANITY, A RELIGION OF JOY. 257 



home closets or the open shame and sorrow of those 
that loved them, coming to Christ in response to 
Philip's earnest appeals, saw the devils cast out, 
the awful power of evil habit broken; and they 
became joyous and peaceful members of the com- 
munity. No wonder there was great joy in that 
city ! There is no way that you can bring so much 
joy into any city as to bring the blessed presence 
of Jesus Christ in saving power into the hearts and 
homes of the people. Suppose to-night I had the 
power to go into every home in this city where 
there is a drunken father, or a drunken husband, 
or a wayward son, or a wilful daughter, and I 
could take J esus with me and so introduce him to 
the hearts of these fathers, and husbands, and 
wives, and sons, and daughters, that they should 
come to love him, and the power of strong drink 
under his love should be cast out, and the wil- 
ful, disobedient spirit should be dispossessed, and 
every one of these hearts should, under the in- 
fluence of Christ, be transformed as I have seen 
thousands of hearts transformed. Oh, what a 
heaven there would be in Brooklyn to-night! 
What watch-nights of joy and reunion there would 
be before morning ! What tears of gladness would 
flow, what words of love would be spoken, what 
glorious hopes would come where despair has been 

a steady visitor ! And up from tens of thousands 
17 



258 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

of homes in Brooklyn there would go a great glori- 
ous wave of joy to the very throne of God ! God 
has not seen fit to give any man that power. It 
must be one heart at a time, one home at a time ; 
but, thank God! whosoever will may come and 
enter into this deep, abiding joy of salvation here 
and hereafter. 

I never have any sympathy with the people who 
talk about what they had to give up to be Chris- 
tians. The story is told of an old couple who, early 
in life, had been very, very poor. But the hus- 
band became a Christian, and God blessed their 
industry, and they were living in comfort, when 
one day a stranger called on them to ask their sub- 
scription to a charity. The old lady had less re- 
ligion than her husband, and thought he lost 
money sometimes by being so very strict about 
keeping the Sabbath so closely in business matters. 
So when the visitor asked their contribution she 
interposed and said: "Why, sir, we have lost a 
good deal by religion since we first began. Have 
we not, Thomas?" she inquired, turning to her hus- 
band. After a solemn pause Thomas answered: 
" Yes, Mary, we have. Before I got religion, Mary, 
I had an old slouched hat, a ragged coat, and holes 
in my shoes and stockings ; but I have lost them 
long ago. And, Mary, you know that, poor as I 
was, I had a habit of getting drunk and quarrel- 



CHRISTIANITY, A RELIGION OF JOY. 259 



ing with you; and that, you know, I have lost. 
And then I had a hardened conscience, and a 
wicked heart, and ten thousand guilty fears; but 
all are lost and like a millstone cast into the sea. 
And, Mary, you have been a loser, too, tho 
not so great a loser as myse]f . Before we got re- 
ligion, Mary, you had the privilege, in order that 
we might not starve, of going out to wash for 
hire, when I was drunk, but since then you've 
lost that chance. And you had a gown and a 
bonnet, much the worse for wear and very shabby ; 
but you have lost them long ago. And you had 
many an aching heart concerning me at times; 
but these you happily have lost. And I could 
even wish that you had lost as much as I have 
lost ; for what we lose for religion will be an ever- 
lasting gain." The old man had the true secret 
of wisdom in regard to all our losses for Christ's 
sake. Christ once said to Peter that every one 
that gave up anything for his sake in this world 
should have here a hundredfold and in the end 
everlasting life. 

My dear friends, I beg of you to bring your sel- 
fishness, along with any wicked habit you may 
have, any cross or ugly temper you may possess, 
every sin that mars and hurts your soul, every 
wearing care and sorrow that weighs you down — 
bring them all to Christ to-night, and in exchange 



260 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



obtain a heart made pure, a pardon for your sins, 
peace with God, and a hope which shall be an 
anchor to your soul, sure and steadfast, and reach- 
ing within the veil. 



PHILIP AND THE FIRST GOSPEL 
WAGON. 



"The Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself 
to this chariot. And Philip ran to him." — Acts viii. 29, 30 
(Revised Version). 

It must have seemed a strange providence to 
Philip, after his marvelous success in preaching 
the Gospel in large cities, where his word had 
been so blessed by the Holy Ghost that great re- 
vivals had followed his ministry and waves of joy 
had swept over the communities where he pro- 
claimed the word of God, that he should suddenly 
be called to a halt, taken away from the midst of 
this success where he was the instrument of so 
much good, and sent out across the desert. But 
Philip went at once on the path of duty, and went 
without any grumbling. He had grown strong 
in the Lord by bestowing upon others every good 
gift God had given him. And I want to say to 
every Christian here, and to every one beginning 
now this Christian life, that the way to a joyous 
and strong Christianity is not by hoarding up any 

of the treasures which God gives you, but by 
261 



262 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



carrying to others in a spirit of helpfulness and 
sympathy the joy and comfort that come to your 
souls. 

A mother down by the seashore one summer 
remarked to a friend: "I don't know what to do 
with my little boy. He hasn't been well, and the 
doctor told me to take him to the seashore and let 
him play all day in the sand. But how am I go- 
ing to make him play when he does not feel like 
it? He hides from the merry children and sits 
and mopes by himself." 

" I know a prescription much better than your 
doctor's," said a strange lady who was sitting near 

by. 

" What is it? " asked Will's mother. 

" Call him here and let me try it," was the reply. 

"Will, O Will! Come here a minute, my 
son," called the mother. 

Will got up slowly, leaving his bucket and 
spade in the sand. " They are just going to tease 
me about not playing," he grumbled to himself. 
" I wish everybody would let me alone." 

But they did not say a word to him about play- 
ing. 

"Will," said the strange lady brightly, "if 
you are not too busy, I wish you would help me 
a little." 

Will pricked up his ears. It had been a long 



PHILIP AND THE GOSPEL WAGON. 263 



time since he had been allowed to help anybody 
but himself. 

"You see that little yellow cottage away off 
there?" asked the lady. u It's about a mile up the 
beach. There is a lame boy in that cottage, and 
I want to send him an orange; will you take it? " 

"Yes, ma'am, certainly," said the small boy. 

" And, Will," she continued, " if you can do any- 
thing to amuse or cheer him, it would be a good 
thing, you know ; he can't get out of the house by 
himself, but he might with you to help him." 

Will was done moping now for good. He for- 
got all about himself in doing things for lame 
Lucien. His appetite increased, his zest for life 
came back, and he was soon as robust as any- 
body. 

If you want to be a robust and rugged Chris- 
tian, full of abounding hope and joy and courage, 
quit thinking about yourself, and put yourself to 
giving out every precious thing God gives you 
to those who are in need. God does not want us to 
act as tho we were stinted, and if we will give 
away the comfort and joy he gives us, he will give 
to us yet more abundantly. 

I have heard a story of a woman who had been 
very poor herself, but she married a very wealthy 
man. He put ten thousand dollars into the bank 
for her personal use, and at the end of the year he 



264 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



said to her, " Do you wish me to put in any more 
this year?" He meant to ask if ten thousand dol- 
lars a year was enough for her. She said, " No, I 
have only spent a hundred." "Why didn't you 
spend it all?" "Why," she said, "I thought it 
wasn't right to spend such a lot; you see I am 
poor." " But I am rich." " Oh," she replied, " I 
thought there might come a day of need and I had 
better keep it." 

That grieved the husband very much. He said, 
" My dear, I meant you to spend it, and there is 
more whenever you want it ; I have more than I 
can spend ; take it and use it ; I meant you to give 
away what you did not need." Our Heavenly 
Father is rich. He abounds in riches of goodness 
and love and heavenly peace and comfort ; and the 
more of it we give to needy souls the better he 
will be pleased and the more abundantly he will 
be able to endow us. God is seeking after men 
and women with hearts big enough to just take 
all the love and mercy which he is willing to give 
them, and to carry it to the wandering and the lost 
and bring their hearts out of despair and darkness 
into his marvelous light and joy. 

Philip was a man of the Spirit. He found his 
joy in following the commandments of God and 
carrying heaven's gladness to dispel earth's sor- 
row. The kingdom of God does not consist of 



PHILIP AND THE GOSPEL WAGON. 265 

earthly things, but of "joy in the Holy Ghost." 
And since Jesus has told us that the Holy Spirit 
is in the world to represent him, we know that 
the joy of the Holy Ghost is the joy of working 
with Christ for the salvation of our fellow men. 
Oh, it is the most precious work in the world ! So 
Philip went gladly and willingly on his way 
across the desert to Gaza. It was a wicked city; 
he did not know what was before him ; but he was 
doing the work God had indicated to him, and he 
went on his way rejoicing. As he went trudging 
forward a chariot came along. It paid no heed 
to him, but the Spirit of God impressed Philip 
that the man in the chariot, who was the treasurer 
of the Queen of Ethiopia, had need of him, and 
that he must not let the chariot pass by, but must 
go to it at once. You know how it is if you are 
walking, and a carriage comes along going the 
same way with a splendid team of horses — they 
soon pass away and leave you in the dust, and if 
you are going to climb into that carriage you have 
to be in a hurry. And so the moment Philip was 
impressed that he had a duty toward the man in 
this passing chariot, he ran as fast as he could ; 
and as he came up alongside of the chariot he 
heard the man reading in the prophecy of Isaiah ; 
and, running beside him, Philip shouted to him, 
" Understandest thou what thou readest?" And 



266 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

the treasurer looked up astonished, and replied, 
"How can I, except some one shall guide me?" 
Then he stopped the chariot and begged Philip to 
come up and sit with him. So they rode along 
together. " Now the place of the Scripture which 
he was reading was this, 

He was led as a sheep to the slaughter ; 

And as a lamb before his shearer is dumb, 

So he openeth not his mouth : 

In his humiliation his judgment was taken away : 

His generation who shall declare? 

For his life is taken from the earth. 

And the eunuch answered Philip and said, I 
pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of 
himself, or of some other? And Philip opened his 
mouth, and beginning from this Scripture, preached 
unto him Jesus." 

You may see the secret of his success in the way 
Philip at once seized hold of his opportunity and 
preached Jesus to this man. That's what you 
and I want to do everywhere we go — carry the mes- 
sage of Christ as the only name whereby we can 
be saved. John Buskin, in his "Notes on the 
Construction of Sheepfolds," says that it is the 
business of every Christian man, whether he be 
minister or layman, to be constantly and inces- 
santly talking Christ, not only indirectly, but di- 
rectly, to the people in his own home, to the men 



PHILIP AND THE GOSPEL WAGON. 267 

he meets in travel, to the people with whom he is 
thrown in touch in his work; that, indeed, it is 
our one business as Christian men and women to 
talk Jesus Christ, and so set forth his helpfulness, 
the glory of his person, the kindness of his friend- 
ship, the tenderness of his sympathy, that we shall 
win everybody that we know to desire him and 
love him. 

Doubtless some who hear me say to themselves : 
" That is all very well to people who have gotten 
accustomed to it and are not backward, but I am 
so timid about these things that it is not possible 
for me." Thank God, he does not expect impos- 
sibilities of us. But if we will begin trying to do 
his will, he will help us, and we shall grow in this 
ability to confess him everywhere. In Patterson 
Du Bois' little book on "Beckonings of Little 
Hands," he tells the story of one of his children 
who has since died, whom he could with greatest 
difficulty get to mention the name of God or of 
Christ. The child was born with this holy awe 
and hesitancy, and the timid little fellow never 
came to a place where he was able to overcome 
that feeling. When the child had died, they 
found a little note-book which had been given 
him by his nurse, and there printed in great 
sprawling baby letters, right across the page, were 
these words, "God is love; he loves lambs." If 



268 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



the child had lived he would have grown up into 
fellowship with God and would have been able to 
have talked about him who loves lambs. I speak 
to many who have this hesitancy about voicing 
their inmost feeling in regard to Christ; but I pray 
for his dear sake, and for the sake of those who 
are strangers to him and whom he loves, that each 
one of you will cultivate every day the gift of 
using every opportunity to speak about him in 
love and tenderness to all with whom you come in 
contact. 

As Philip preached Christ to the traveler the 
man's heart was convinced that Jesus was the Sa- 
vior of the world, and therefore his Savior, and so 
he determined upon a public confession of Christ 
then and there ; and as in their drive they came to 
where there was some water, he said to Philip, 
" Behold, here is water ; what doth hinder me to 
be baptized ?" And he ordered the chariot to stop, 
and Philip went down with him to the water and 
baptized him in the name of Jesus. After he was 
baptized the Lord carried Philip away to other 
work, and the Ethiopian treasurer saw him no 
more; but while he no doubt regretted this, it is 
said of him, "He went on his way rejoicing." 

I commend to every one of you who have heard 
the message about Jesus Christ and are convinced 
in your heart that he is the Savior of the world, that 



PHILIP AND THE GOSPEL WAGON. 269 



you do not hesitate or delay any longer, but give 
your heart to him at once. More souls are lost by 
delay than anything else. Luther is said to have 
had a dream that there was great commotion in 
hell; one of the devils came down and said to 
Beelzebub, " Tidings, my lord, from earth ; Luther 
is going to preach the doctrine of justification by 
faith to-morrow." Beelzebub said, "What shall 
we do?" One devil said, "I will go into the con- 
gregation and move from soul to soul and say, ' It 
is all a lie; there is no need of justification, there 
is no devil.'" Beelzebub answered, "You fool, 
every man knows there is a devil ; he has only to 
look within and see that he is there." Another 
said, " I will go and say there is a God, and there 
is a devil; but God is too kind to punish sin, and 
there is no hell." Beelzebub replied, "You fool, 
every man knows that sin must be punished and 
there must be a hell." Another said, " Let me go; 
I can deceive the whole congregation. I will say 
to them, 'There is a God, and he is very just and 
holy ; there is a devil, and he is very strong and 
wicked ; there is a hell, and it is everlasting, and 
very bitter, but you do not need to go there ; you 
will have time to repent some time in the future; 
if no sooner, at least when you are dying. Do not 
repent to-day.'" "You may go," said Beelzebub. 
" You will succeed." Alas ! how often he has sue- 



270 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



ceeded ! And how many there are here who have 
been deceived again and again, waiting for some 
convenient season which has never come. No op- 
portunity can ever be better than this. Accept 
Christ now, and register your decision once and 
for all to stand with Jesus Christ here and for- 
ever. If you shall do that, it shall be with you as 
you go out from this church to-night as it was 
with the Ethiopian treasurer after his decision — 
you shall go on your way rejoicing. 



iENEAS, A MAN WHO WAS HEALED. 

"And it came to pass, as Peter went throughout all parts, 
he came down also to the saints which dwelt at Lydda. 
And there he found a certain man named iEneas, which 
had kept his bed eight years ; for he was palsied. And 
Peter said unto him, iEneas, Jesus Christ healeth thee : 
arise, and make thy bed. And straightway he arose. And 
all that dwelt at Lydda and in Sharon saw him, and they 
turned to the Lord." — Acts ix. 32-35 (Revised Version). 

How much of suffering and sorrow is repre- 
sented in the opening of this scene, and what 
great blessing and joy in its conclusion! Here 
was a man who had been sick eight years, who 
had no doubt lost hope of being healed until the 
news had come to him of the healing of the crip- 
pled man at the gate of the temple, by Peter, in 
the name of Jesus Christ. You may be sure 
IEneas had heard that story. I have often been 
greatly impressed in visiting sick people, espe- 
cially those who have been ill a long time with some 
chronic and lingering disease, by learning bow 
well-informed they are about the many things that 
are suggested as remedies for their disease. And 

while the crippled man at the gate was not af- 
271 



272 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

flicted in exactly the same way as ^neas, yet he 
would naturally reason that it would be no harder 
to cure a man with the palsy than to heal a poor 
cripple who had been helplessly lame all the days 
of his life. No doubt iEneas had many times said 
to himself and to those with whom he had a 
chance to talk, "If only I could get to see that 
man Peter, who healed the lame man up there at 
the temple, I believe he could do something for 
my palsy." But then the poor fellow would sigh 
and say, "Alas! I am too helpless to go to him." 
Had he been as fortunate as that poor man who 
had four friends who carried him to Christ, and 
let him down through the roof, and thus secured 
his recovery, it was yet too great a journey for 
such an attempt to be made. 

But one day strange and wonderful news came 
to .iEneas. Some neighbor came along and ex- 
claimed, "^Eneas, have you heard the news?" 

Poor .ZEneas, he was in the dumps that morn- 
ing, helpless and weak and almost hopeless; and 
I see him as he lifts his weary eyes to his neigh- 
bor. Without any especial curiosity in his voice 
he inquires, " How is a poor fellow like me to hear 
any news? But what news do you mean?" 
"News? why, good news, I should think, for you. 
Don't you remember how interested you were a 
while ago about a lame man that had been a crip- 



JENEAS, A MAN WHO WAS HEALED. 273 



pie from his birth, and for the last thirty years or 
more had lain at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, 
who was cured, sound and well, by a man called 
Peter, a fisherman, who has been preaching the 
glory of the Nazarene who was crucified in Jeru- 
salem, and whom he says was raised from the 
dead? Well, the news is that this man Peter is 
in town. He came this morning." 

There is no lassitude about iEneas now. He is 
all interest and excitement. He must somehow 
see Peter. He feels sure that it is the one hope of 
his life-time, and so he begs his neighbor, " Please, 
neighbor, go ask this wonderful man to come and 
see me. It may be the only chance I'll have. 
You see, I can't do anything, I can't walk. I 
have no one I can send. Take mercy on a poor 
fellow, and go and tell Peter that there is a poor 
sick man in here who can't get out to see him, and 
beg him to come and heal me here." 

Away goes the neighbor and finds Peter and 
tells him about iEneas. Peter, always impulsive, 
never putting off till to-morrow the duty for to- 
day, jumps up and says, " Certainly, if there is a 
poor fellow here who wants to see me, then he's 
just the man I want to see." And in a little 
while Peter came, led by the neighbor into 
JEneas' room where he had lain sick and helpless 
for eight long years. .iEneas heard them coming, 
18 



274 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

and as the steps grew near, how his heart did 
thump against his ribs ! And then Peter comes in 
at the door and the sick man's eyes, flashing now 
with expectancy and hope, look into the face of 
Peter — a face that has been mellowed by associ- 
ation with Jesus Christ until the gruffness has 
gone out of it and much of the gentleness of the 
Great Physician has found lodgment there. 
And Peter does not wait to torment him with 
questions, he just cries out to him with a cheery 
voice, "^Eneas, Jesus Christ maketh thee whole! 
arise, and make thy bed." And JEneas did not 
wait at all on the order of his obedience, for he 
felt a new thrill of life and vigor in his veins. In 
that moment he did believe on the Christ, that 
there was power in the name that Peter had in- 
voked to give him new life, and he arose up 
immediately. 

How this man's faith ought to rebuke many 
who have so much greater light, and yet are wait- 
ing, and considering, and thinking, and failing to 
be made whole. Many of you that are listening 
to me have heard ten thousand times more about 
the power of Jesus Christ to heal the guilty soul, 
to give men power to resist temptation, and break 
the power of sinful habits, than JEneas had ever 
heard about him in any way. Yet his sense of 
need was so great that he seized the first oppor- 



jENEAS, a man who WAS HEALED. 275 

tunity of being healed. Oh, I would that God 
would show you your great need of a Savior ! If 
you only knew what a terrible thing sin is ! If 
you could only look at the cross of Jesus Christ — 
see the Savior hanging there, nailed to the shame- 
ful tree, and realize that it was your sin that 
helped to make necessary ; if you could only real- 
ize how your sinful thoughts and imaginations, 
your ingratitude of heart and life toward God, 
are separating you from the richest comfort and 
blessing that immortal souls can ever know — I am 
sure you would be anxious and aroused to seize 
the first opportunity of coming to the Great Phy- 
sician of souls. 

I want to impress upon you as clearly as I may 
the concluding sentence of this Scripture, which 
shows that none of us can live unto ourselves, but 
that the influence of our yielding our hearts to 
God and being made whole may be a great bless- 
ing to many others. The record says that the 
healing of iEneas had this result : " And all that 
dwelt at Lydda and in Sharon saw him, and they 
turned to the Lord." Why should you not regard 
the influence which your life has upon others? It 
is a terrible thing to occupy such a position that 
others, following your example, are restrained from 
accepting Christ and are lost. If you would only 
come to Jesus to-night and throw your whole life 



276 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

and soul on his side, no doubt there are other 
hearts to whom it would bring great joy. 

Dr. Guthrie tells the story of two women who 
lived not far apart, though in widely different 
circles of society, whom the Lord Jesus Christ had 
healed of all their sins at about the same time. One 
of these women had been very wicked. She had 
neither feared God nor cared for the good opinion 
of the community, and was bringing up her chil- 
dren in evil ways. "One evening," to use Dr. 
Guthrie's quaint description, " she happened to be 
within ear-shot of a preacher; as he was emptying 
his quiver among the crowd, an arrow from the 
bow drawn at a venture was lodged in her heart." 
And right there, that night, in the street, she was 
converted. It was a case of sudden conversion, 
like the thief on the cross, the jailer at Philippi, or 
Saul on his way to Damascus. This woman was 
confronted with Christ. Her heart was broken 
with contrition for her sins and she immediately 
accepted him as her Savior. As soon as this 
wonderful transformation had been wrought in 
her heart she thought of her children at home, and 
into what danger she had led them by her own 
sinful life. She hurried home. She found the 
family asleep, but in the new light that had come 
to her she saw in each one of her children an im- 
mortal soul that she had led in the path of ruin. 



MNEAS, A MAN WHO WAS HEALED. 277 

So intense was her desire to undo her awful work 
that she rushed on the sleepers as if the house were 
in flames, and shook them, crying, "Arise, call 
upon thy God !" And there at midnight, with her 
children kneeling around her, her eyes streaming 
with tears, her voice trembling with emotion, did 
that poor mother cry to God, that he would have 
mercy upon her children and pluck them as brands 
from the burning. 

Near by, in the most respectable circles of so- 
ciety, lived another woman. Her husband was 
a Christian and had often in the dead of night 
prayed for her salvation. At last she, too, was 
smitten with anxiety; the Holy Spirit convicted 
her of sin; but she could find no peace; she walked 
in darkness and had no light ; when she lay down 
beside her husband at night she would say, " If 
you should die before to-morrow it would be happy 
for you ; but if I should die, it would be an ever- 
lasting farewell!" Her husband's pastor came to 
see her. She was in the garden. Her husband 
left the house to call her. " Who seeks me?" she 
asked. Without forethought, as if the words had 
fallen from heaven on his lips, he replied, " Jesus 
Christ seeks you !" It came to her as the voice of 
God. She followed him into the house, and in the 
prayer that followed she was made whole, and 
filled with great joy. 



278 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

Dr. Guthrie, talking with the husband about 
the incident, inquired, "And what did you do?" 
"Do, sir?" he replied; "I sprang to my feet; I 
clasped her in my arms; I exclaimed, 'This is our 
marriage day;' and unable to restrain my joy I 
cried, 'Hosannah to the Son of David! Praise 
him, all ye his angels; praise him, sun, moon, 
and stars; praise him, all ye orbs of light!' " 

I know families that have been long divided, 
tho usually it is the wife who has been a Chris- 
tian and has been praying to God in some cases 
for many years, and if her husband would only 
come to the Lord her soul would go out in glad- 
ness like that. 

I appeal to this highest possible motive to-night. 
Not only for your own soul's sake; not only be- 
cause of what you owe to God and the gratitude 
due to the Lord Jesus Christ ; but because of your 
influence upon others and the salvation it may 
bring to them, or the gladness with which it may 
fill their hearts, delay not your coming to God, 
but come to him now. 



CORNELIUS, THE TRUTH SEEKER. 

"A devout man." — Acts x. 2 (Revised Version). 

Cornelius is a signal illustration of the great 
truth of the unity of the human race. God loves 
all his children. The people of one nation are as 
dear to him as are those of another. He is not 
afar off from any of his creatures. Altho Cor- 
nelius had but little opportunity indeed to know 
about the true God, and knew still less, perhaps, of 
the Jewish Messiah, yet he was a man of devout 
and reverent soul who followed the leadings of the 
Holy Spirit and was a consistent and earnest 
seeker after truth. 

The Bible gives us the record of many such 
cases. Job is a very striking illustration of the 
same kind. He was not a Jew and, so far as we 
know, had no knowledge of Jewish literature. 
There is no reference to Job at all in Jewish 
history. He was an Arabian, and yet he was a 
sincere and honest servant of God, and there is no 
book in the Bible, unless it be the Psalms of David, 
that so unlocks the secret chambers of the human 
soul and holds up before the eye the unwritten and 
279 



280 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

hitherto undescribed struggles of an aspiring soul 
that seeks to live a noble and holy life in the midst 
of earth's sorrows and temptations, as the book of 
Job. God spoke to Job and brought him un- 
scathed out of all his sorrows, and shows us in 
the story of his life that the Arab in the desert 
is as dear to the heart of the Great Father as the 
prophet or the priest in the Holy City. 

Similar examples have been found among far 
more untaught and simple peoples, those destitute 
of literature and the arts of civilization. Men 
were found among the North American Indians 
who held communion with God before any mes- 
sage of Christ came to them. Brainard found a 
wild Indian who was living apart from his people, 
coming out among them occasionally as a preacher 
of righteousness, trying to restrain their wicked 
passions and to persuade them away from their 
wretched vice of drink ; and when he was unable 
to accomplish his beneficent purpose he would run 
away into the woods in tears and grief and an- 
guish which he could not repress. "Ah, there 
must be some one," he would say, "who thinks 
like me; where shall I find him?" 

So in the depths of Africa the missionaries found 
a woman who had been praying many years to 
"The Unknown God," and who, as soon as the 
story of Jesus was given her, exclaimed, "Oh, 



CORNELIUS, THE TRUTH SEEKER. 281 



that is he, the same that I have found, and now 
have always with me !" 

Cornelius' was a case like these. He was a de- 
vout man, reverent toward God, and seeking ear- 
nestly to find the truth. His spirit is illustrated in 
his conversation with Peter after his arrival from 
Joppa, when he says to him, " Now therefore are 
we all here present before God, to hear all things 
that are commanded thee of God." This shows 
his reverence and his earnestness. He feels that 
Peter has not come to amuse him or to entertain 
him ; neither is he there to satisfy some curiosity 
he may have ; but he recognizes that Peter comes 
as the messenger of God, and he desires him to 
speak clearly all the message which God has 
given to him. 

It would be well indeed for every one of us to 
recognize that that is exactly our condition to- 
night. It is not my business here to simply amuse 
you or to entertain you, but to bring you as clearly 
and simply as I can, by the aid of the Spirit of 
God, the message of God to your hearts; to bring 
you the invitation of Christ, and to urge upon you 
that you shall accept it at once. 

If your house were on fire and your property in 
danger of being consumed, and the fire company 
which had been summoned should come and locate 
the engine in the street before your house, and, in- 



282 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



stead of pouring a stream of water upon the fire and 
trying to drench out the flames as speedily as pos- 
sible, should go through a dress parade drill in the 
street for your entertainment, and seek to amuse 
you and excite your admiration by showing you 
how high or how far they could throw a stream of 
water in some other direction, how indignant you 
would be ! You would rush up to the superinten- 
dent in a frenzy of despair, and cry out, " Man, are 
you crazy? Don't you see my house is burning 
down before your eyes? Our home is being con- 
sumed. What do you suppose we care for all this 
parade? Turn your stream of water on the fire 
before it is too late !" 

Or suppose your child were very ill and the doctor 
should come and, neglecting the patient, should 
enter into long and curious conversations about 
the discoveries of medical science and seek to 
amuse and entertain the family, would you not 
say, "Doctor, put these things away for some 
other time; our child is suffering, he will die if 
he does not get help soon; we have no taste for 
curiosity or amusement until he is safe." 

How much more when you come here to this 
house of God to hear of the divine remedy for 
sin should I bring you at once the message of the 
Great Physician, and deal earnestly with souls 
that are in danger of eternal loss. While beset- 



CORNELIUS, THE TRUTH SEEKER. 283 

ting sins are dogging your pathway; while the 
chains of evil habit are strengthening their hold 
upon you every day ; while evil imaginations and 
thoughts are evolving evil deeds, and these are 
earning the deadly wages of sin, I have no heart 
to mock you by simply trying to entertain you for 
the hour. Instead, with all the earnestness of 
my soul, I bring you God's message and preach 
unto you Jesus Christ as the only Savior from 
sin. 

We have suggested in the story of Cornelius that 
a man is only safe who lives up to the light as 
God gives him to see it from day to day. There 
is salvation in the truth, but it is not enough to 
know the truth and admire it, and even to praise 
it — we must embrace it in faith. There are many 
men who praise the light, but still love the dark- 
ness. Many that know the truth, still refuse it in 
its application to their own lives and perish in 
their sins. The Bible records of such an one, 
" His own iniquities shall take the wicked, and he 
shall be holden with the cords of his sin. He shall 
die for lack of instruction ; and in the greatness of 
his folly he shall go astray." Cornelius' salva- 
tion was that as fast as he knew more truth he put 
it all into practice. He had been a prayerful man 
before. He had brought up his family according 
to the best of his ability. He had been a generous 



284 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



man and helped to feed the poor. But he did not 
fall back into wicked self-complacency as many 
such people do. He recognized that he owed 
everything to God and sought to do his best ac- 
cording to every new light that came to him. 
And so when Peter came and preached Jesus 
Christ as the Savior of the world, and as God's 
atonement for sin, Cornelius did not fall back on 
his alms or his good deeds, or even his prayers, 
and say, " I have been doing the best I could and 
I guess it will be all right with me without my 
doing anything farther." He at once accepted 
Christ as his Savior, and made the most public 
and open confession of Jesus that he could make. 
There is your consistent and honest truth-seeker! 
Many men pretend to be seeking after the truth 
who live and die in their sins. But Cornelius was 
made free by the truth because the moment he 
came to know it he accepted it and acted upon it. 

I am sure that there are those here who need 
just this message. You know very much of Gos- 
pel truth. You have to a greater or less extent 
followed the example of Cornelius in prayer and in 
doing good, but you have not admitted the great 
and supreme claim of the Lord Jesus. You have 
not given to him your open and unreserved con- 
fession. Some of you say, "I would do that, but 
I fear I would not be able to hold out." So long 



CORNELIUS, THE TRUTH SEEKER. 285 



as you stand in that attitude you are refusing to 
give Christ your trust and your confidence. You 
can not expect that God will reveal himself to you 
in assurance that your sins are forgiven until you 
are willing to obey the Lord Jesus and without 
any reference to your feelings or emotions follow 
the right as God gives you to see it. We are to 
walk by faith, and not by sight. 

The story is told of Alexander the Great that he 
had a physician who was his bosom friend. One 
day there came an anonymous letter on a waxed 
tablet to the king. The letter ran like this : " Oh, 
king, there is treachery in thy home. Thy physi- 
cian purposes to kill thee by the draught which he 
gives thee to-morrow, under the plea of healing 
thee." The king put that waxed tablet into his 
bosom and the next day, when the physician came 
to give him the draught, he put out his left hand 
and, taking the cup with his right hand, handed 
the tablet to the physician and said, "Friend, I 
trust thee," and drank the potion without stopping 
a moment to see the effect upon the physician. 
That is just what some of you need to do. You 
wish you were a Christian, you are longing for 
salvation, but you want to get it without trusting 
Christ. It is not enough to believe historically 
that Christ is the Great Physician of souls, but 
you must trust him. Step right out on his prom- 



286 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



ises and declare openly your purpose to take Jesus 
here and now as your Savior. 

Cornelius came into the assurance of salva- 
tion by implicit obedience to Christ. The same 
spirit of obedience to the Savior will bring all here 
to the same blessed assurance that they are the 
children of God, that their sins are blotted out, 
that they are heirs of God and joint heirs with the 
Lord Jesus Christ. John wrote his first epistle 
with the one purpose, he says, of showing people 
how they may know that they are accepted of 
God. In the fifth chapter of his first epistle he 
says, " These things have I written unto you that 
believe on the name of the Sou of God. ; that ye 
may know that ye have eternal life." One of the 
most significant things John says about knowing 
whether we are Christians or not is this : " We 
know that we have passed from death unto life, 
because we love the brethren. He that loveth not 
his brother abideth in death." "Well," you say, 
" how in the world can I love people if I don't?" 
Well, begin at once to obey Christ and try to set 
matters right with anybody toward whom you 
have angry or wrong feelings. You must forgive 
them in your own heart. Jesus says in the Lord's 
Prayer that we can ask God to forgive us only as 
we forgive others who have wronged us or tres- 
passed against us. If there is anybody you are 



CORNELIUS, THE TRUTH SEEKER. 287 

not on speaking terms with, or have strained rela- 
tions with ; anybody toward whom you are sure 
you don't feel right and who you know doesn't feel 
right toward you, write a letter before you sleep 
and ask forgiveness, and try to make it right. No 
matter if you think the other party is more in the 
wrong than you are. It is better to ask a man's 
forgiveness a hundred times when you are the 
party sinned against, than to let one arrow go on 
rankling in your heart and poisoning the spirit of 
love that ought to reign there supreme. 

Mr. Moody relates that he was once preaching 
in Scotland on the subject of forgiveness, and in 
the course of his remarks he said, "If any one 
here has had any trouble with any one, and wants 
to go off and have the thing settled to-day, go 
now; we will excuse you." One Scotch woman 
got up and started ; she pressed through the aisle, 
elbowing her way and making the people stand 
aside. That night she came and brought her hus- 
band, and they were both converted. She said, 
" I have wanted to be a Christian for years, but I 
had trouble with my mother-in-law, and hadn't 
spoken to her for years; so this afternoon I went 
right off and saw her, and she forgave me." 
After that the woman had no trouble finding 
Jesus, and it was the salvation of her husband as 
well. 



288 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



The great lesson of all this story of Cornelius is 
to act at once obediently to all the light God gives 
us. I am sure there is no one of you that can go 
up to the judgment seat at last and say, " I would 
have been saved, but no one was faithful enough 
to my soul to warn me of the danger of my sin , 
and tell me the simple story of salvation through 
faith in Jesus Christ." You have light enough. 
If you never heard the Gospel before, hear it now : 
" The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God 
is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord." 
"Except ye be born again ye can not see the king- 
dom of God." "If we confess our sins, he is 
faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and cleanse 
us from all unrighteousness. " " And the Spirit 
and the bride say, Come. And let him that hear- 
eth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. 
And whoseover will, let him take the water of life 
freely." 



THE GOLD MINE OF HUMANITY. 



" Unto me hath God shewed that I should not call any man 
common or unclean." — Acts x. 28 (Revised Version). 

The greatest lessons are learned slowly and 
oftentimes painfully. Peter had been for three 
years a disciple of Jesus Christ. He had had the 
great privilege of close and intimate acquaintance 
and fellowship with him who is the Light of the 
world. And yet that bigotry which was a part of 
his inheritance as Jew in that age he had not 
been able to get over and outgrow. He did not 
yet understand that God loved the Gentiles as 
much as he did the Jews. 

After the healing of .ZEneas and Dorcas, Peter 
remained for some time in the house of Simon the 
tanner. One morning he went up on the house- 
top to pray, but he became so hungry that he told 
the folks about it, and while they were making 
ready a meal for him he fell into a trance and had 
a strange vision. The heavens opened before him, 
and a great sheet knit at the four corners was let 
down to the earth, and in this enormous sheet 
were all manner of four-footed beasts, and wild 
19 289 



290 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. 
And a voice commanded him, "Rise, Peter; kill 
and eat." But Peter replied, "Not so, Lord; for 
I have never eaten anything that is common or 
unclean." But again the heavenly voice spoke to 
him, saying, " What God hath cleansed, make not 
thou common." As if to impress the lesson on his 
mind, this was repeated three times; and then 
Peter came out of his trance, and while he was 
much perplexed to know what it could mean, the 
message came to him from God "Behold, three 
men seek thee; arise, therefore, and go with them, 
doubting nothing : for I have sent them." Peter 
went down at once to meet the men and inquired 
why they sought for him. The men replied that 
they came from Cornelius, a Roman centurion, 
who lived at Csesarea. This man Cornelius they 
represented as a devout and reverent man who 
feared God and sought to live up to the light that 
God gave him. An angel had appeared to this 
Roman soldier and had commanded him to send 
for Peter. Peter went with the men at once, and 
on the next day, when he arrived at the house of 
Cornelius, his host came out to greet him and fell 
down at his feet and worshiped him; but Peter 
took him up, saying, "Stand up; I myself also 
am a man." And then Peter enters into conver- 
sation with Cornelius, and shows at once that he 



THE GOLD MINE OF HUMANITY. 



291 



understands the meaning of his vision. "Ye 
know, " he says, " how that it is an unlawful thing 
for a man that is a Jew to keep company, or come 
unto one of another nation ; but God hath shewed 
me that I should not call any man common or un- 
clean." And a little later, when he begins his 
sermon to the household that are gathered to- 
gether, he opens his discourse with these words : 
" Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of 
persons ; but in every nation he that feareth him 
and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him." 

Peter seems to have learned this great lesson 
once and for all at this time. It is the most revo- 
lutionary characteristic of Christianity. It takes 
the average person longer to learn it than any 
other lesson which Christ teaches us. There is no 
nation under heaven where the class spirit and the 
spirit of caste of some kind does not work oppres- 
sion and separate the children of God from each 
other, to the great loss of all. We call this a 
democratic land; we boast of the democracy of 
our republican institutions; yet there are multi- 
tudes of instances that might be pointed out where 
our practical conduct shows that we believe that 
certain classes of people are common and unclean 
and are not the children of God in the same 
sense that we are. Many people that would not 
admit this live as tho it were the creed upon 



292 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

which their lives were built. I want to call your 
special attention to the fact that Jesus Christ 
throughout his entire ministry acted as tho 
wealth and social position and power were acci- 
dents or merely incidental conditions that were not 
worth considering in comparison to manhood or 
womanhood. He went in his ministry to the suf- 
fering to the house of a rich man just as readily 
as to the hovel of the poor, but he did not show in 
any way that he regarded the rich man's case to 
be any more interesting or important than he did 
the pauper's. Once when he was on his way to 
heal the daughter of a rich nobleman, a poor, beg- 
gared woman who had been sick twelve years 
pressed through the crowd behind him that she 
might touch the hem of his garment and be healed ; 
and the Savior stopped and held a considerable 
conversation with her while the nobleman must 
have been almost crazy to have him hurry for- 
ward ; but that poor woman was as important to 
Jesus as tho she, too, had lived in a palace. If the 
special mission of Christ had been to set before the 
world the worth of the individual soul, the inex- 
haustible riches of humanity itself, tho it be 
stripped and naked of everything that ornaments 
it and beautifies it, he could not have acted differ- 
ently than he did. He never let down his stand- 
ards one iota to persuade a rich man to enter the 



THE GOLD MINE OF HUMANITY. 293 

kingdom of God ; neither did he thrust any suspi- 
cion or bar into the way to keep the vilest of sin- 
ners from coming into closest fellowship himself, 
and proclaiming themselves openly his disciples. 
Zacchseus, the rich tax collector, got into the king- 
dom ; but he made restitution of four dollars for 
every one he had gained by cheating, and he 
shared his wealth with the poor. On the other 
hand the poor demon-beggared man of Gadara, 
with money and reputation and everything gone, 
was received with open arms and sent to tell every- 
where what the Lord had done for his soul. 

Look at the kind of people of whom Jesus Christ 
made a great deal, and with whom he always con- 
versed with the most perfect naturalness and sim- 
plicity, never for a moment indicating that it was 
condescension on his part to do so. One morning 
a company of scribes and Pharisees brought to 
him a woman upon whom they had heaped curses 
and maledictions, and whom they were preparing 
to stone to death. She stood before the Master 
trembling and terror-stricken, her face buried in 
her hands. Shame and grief and despair possessed 
her. These self-righteous accusers pointed at her 
with fingers of scorn and said, "Master, Moses 
commanded that such an offender be stoned." 
They were trying to catch Jesus in his words. 
At first the Savior seemed to pay no attention to 



294 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

them. He seemed in meditation, and bent down 
and appeared to be writing in the sand. But they 
became all the more rabid in their denunciation of 
the poor sinful woman, and cried out again to 
him: "Master, Moses commanded that she be 
stoned. What say est thou?" Then Jesus straight- 
ened himself up, and looked on them with those 
heart- searching eyes that read men's souls, and 
said : " He that is without sin among you, let him 
first cast a stone at her." And again he stooped 
and wrote in the sand. That single sentence 
struck them dumb. They stood self -convicted be- 
fore the judgment seat of righteousness. Ashamed 
and conscience-stricken, they looked into each 
other's faces, and then, loosening their clutch of 
the stones they had meant to hurl at the shrinking 
woman, they dropped them one b} T one, and si- 
lently withdrew. No Gatling gun ever dispersed 
a mob quicker than that. When they were all 
gone the Savior looked kindly and pitifully on the 
poor sinner and inquired, "Hath no man con- 
demned thee?" "No man, Lord," she replied, no 
doubt in great astonishment. Then came the ten- 
der words that must have been a revelation of the 
very heart of God to the woman's soul: "Neither 
do I condemn thee; go, and sin no more." 

Or go with the Master again as he passes out of 
Jericho on the way to Jerusalem. A poor old blind 



THE GOLD MINE OF HUMANITY. 295 



beggar named Bartimaeus sits by the wayside beg- 
ging, and he inquires what the noise is. He is told 
that Jesus of Nazareth passeth by. As soon as 
the old beggar knows who it is, he begins to shout 
at the top of his voice, " Jesus, thou son of David, 
have mercy on me !" And the people tried to stop 
him. They told him to keep still. Why did they 
try to stop him? Because he was poor — that was 
it ; because he was an old blind beggar, that they 
did not consider of any account. They stopped 
him from exactly the same motive which sways 
many people now who would rather have some rich 
man that is well dressed, or it may be has some 
official position, come to church and sit with them 
in their pew than some poor fellow who is out of 
work and has a hard time to keep soul and body 
together, and whose clothing is worn shabby. 
Those people that tried to stop Bartimaeus were 
not such different sinners from ourselves that we 
can not understand them. But what was Christ's 
attitude? That is the thing that is interesting to 
me, and ought to be interesting to you. For we 
are the disciples of Jesus and it is not our business 
to ape the hangers-on that tried to block the way 
for poor old Bartimaeus when he wanted to get to 
the Master. When Jesus heard the cry he stood 
still, and commanded his disciples to bring Barti- 
maeus to him. How quickly their tune changed 



296 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



then ! The very people who had been telling him 
to keep still said to him now, " Be of good com- 
fort, rise; he calleth thee." And Bartimseus got 
up as quickly as he could and came to Christ. 
The Savior inquired of him : " What wilt thou that 
I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto 
him, Lord, that I might receive my sight. And 
Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath 
made thee whole. And immediately he received 
his sight, and followed Jesus in the way." I want 
you to take notice of those last words — "he fol- 
lowed Jesus in the way." He became a member 
of Christ's church. And I haven't a doubt that 
Bartimseus was one of the one hundred and 
twenty that tarried in that upper room in Jeru- 
salem after the ascension of Jesus, and that on 
the day of Pentecost there was not a more effec- 
tive exhorter than Bartimseus who used to be 
the blind old pauper down by the gates of 
Jericho. 

Bear with me, I pray you, while I urge the ne- 
cessity of being watchful over our own hearts to 
see that we do not lose the spirit of the Master in 
seeking after the poor and the despised and the 
discouraged, for whom the world has contempt, to 
preach to them the Gospel of the Lord Jesus and 
to welcome them to this blessed fellowship. I am 
sure that the greatest reason why the Christian 



THE GOLD MINE OF HUMANITY. 



297 



church is not controlling for Jesus Christ and for 
righteousness in our modern cities is because, to a 
great extent, it is getting away from the poor. 
I know we have many missions to the poor. We 
have many institutions and societies to carry char- 
ity and help to those who are in need. I do not 
underestimate their value nor their importance, 
but I do say that it is important that the poorest of 
men and women shall not only be welcome but 
sought after and desired in every church that 
bears the name of Jesus Christ. If every church 
in Brooklyn, of every denomination of Christians, 
could point with glad satisfaction, as one of the 
signs of fulfilling the mission of its Lord, to the 
fact that within its walls " the poor have the Gos- 
pel preached unto them," it would produce a mighty 
reformation in this city. We must seek for a new 
baptism of this spirit if we hope to be greatly 
blessed of God in the salvation of men. I would 
rather go back to the old log cabins where I began 
to preach the Gospel, in the mountains of Wash- 
ington and Oregon, than to preach in any church, 
however rich or famous or splendid, that does not 
open its heart and its fellowship to welcome the 
poorest of God's children. 

I thank God that Jesus Christ has not lost his 
power to pick the gold out of the quartz of common 
human life. Over in a New England village, a 



298 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

few years ago, a man queerly dressed and ill at 
ease and seemingly anxious to escape observation 
came up to the gate at the outskirts of the town 
where a woman, the mistress of a little cottage, 
was standing. The stranger said, taking off his 
hat with shy politeness, " Madam, have you any 
work that I could do?" 

"I am sorry," she answered, "that I have not 
any. Will you come in and rest? My husband 
will be here directly." 

"Thank you," he said after a moment's hesita- 
tion, " I have walked far to-day. I am tired and 
hungry and have little money. I will accept the 
first kindness that has been shown me in twenty 
years. " 

Mrs. Armstrong led the way into her little par- 
lor, and offered her guest a chair by the window, 
then went into her kitchen. Just then her hus- 
band came in, crying, "Belle! Belle! I sold 
the meadow lot at a splendid bargain; I have 
the money here in my pocket — three hundred 
dollars in hard cash. What do you think of 
that?" 

" Sh-sh-sh !" said the wife. And then drawing 
him away she told him about the stranger who 
had looked so tired out and discouraged that she 
had invited him in. 

" It was all right to do it," he said ; " still, I wish 



THE GOLD MINE OF HUMANITY. 299 

this money were safe in the bank and not in my 
charge to-night with a man like that under our 
roof. If only I hadn't shouted my news out as I 
did when I came in." 

But Armstrong was a brave Christian man, and 
there came to his memory at the moment the text 
they had read at family worship that morning, 
"There shall no evil befall thee." So he went in 
and gave a hearty hand-shake to the stranger, and 
showed him to the little dainty upper room, kept 
fresh and neat for company, and when presently 
the man came down, washed and refreshed, the 
three sat down to their evening meal. 

The food was abundant and the poor foot-trav- 
eler partook of it with great zest. Under the in- 
fluence of Mr. Armstrong's agreeable manner, the 
odd guest thawed, and became friendly and social. 
Once he laughed, but checked himself quickly as 
if he were not accustomed to it. 

When it came bed-time Mr. Armstrong re- 
marked, "It is our custom to have family wor- 
ship, and we will be glad to have you join us." 
The wife sat down to the little melodeon, and their 
voices blended in — 

"Sun of my soul, thou Savior dear, 
It is not night if thou be near ; 
Oh, may no earth-bom cloud arise 
To hide thee from thy servant's eyes. 



300 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

" If some poor wandering child of thine 
Have spurned to-day the voice divine, 
Now, Lord, the gracious work begin, 
Let him no more lie down in sin. " 

Tears blurred the stranger's vision. He put up 
a slender but work-worn band and furtively dried 
his eyes. 

Mr. Armstrong read a few words from the Gos- 
pel of John, then they knelt, and a hearty prayer 
was offered. 

The worship over, the guest was escorted to the 
spare chamber and left to his night's repose. 

Next morning, after a good breakfast, he bade 
his kind entertainers farewell, and was about to 
proceed on his way. Mr. Armstrong inquired 
his direction, and, finding that he was bound east- 
ward, gave him a lift for some miles in his 
wagon, and finally parted with him, with a 
cordial God-speed, and after depositing his 
money in safety in the bank, returned to his 
home. 

"Belle," he said, "that man is a discharged con- 
vict. For some crime or other he has spent the 
best years of his life in prison. I knew it by many 
little signs, most of all by his step, and that way of 
acting as if watched." 

" Jonathan ! and you let him sleep here, when we 
had three hundred dollars in the house, and he 



THE GOLD MINE OF HUMANITY. 301 

might have robbed and murdered us both. Why, 
how could you sleep as you did, knowing that?" 

"I trusted God. And I hope a new life will 
begin for that poor fellow, but he's got a hard row 
before him. I wish I could have helped him bet- 
ter than I did." 

Two weeks later, Mr. Armstrong received a let- 
ter from a distant city. It ran thus: 

Dear Sir : — The stranger who ate your bread 
and slept in your house some days ago was a poor 
Ishmael, his hand against every man and every 
man's hand against him. He had spent twenty 
years in State prison, and, coming out, felt he 
had not a friend in the world. You and your wife 
have saved him. He went from your door straight 
to the house of a kinsman whom he had feared to 
meet. He has work and friends now, and has be- 
gun an honest life. But let him tell you that he 
was tempted to steal the money you brought home 
from the sale of the meadow lot, and perhaps he 
would have done it but for your great goodness 
and your family prayer. He is a saved man, 
thank God, and he owes it to you." 

God help us to weigh human nature in the 
scales of Jesus Christ. He is able to inspire in 
the hearts of what seems the poorest possible ma- 
terial an enthusiasm and courage that will dare 
to seek for the loftiest and holiest things. Carroll 



302 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

T>. Wright tells a little story which shows the 
power of God to flash his divine spirit through 
one of the most lawless and useless of men. It 
was in the army. The man in question was a 
bummer in every sense of the word. As a sol- 
dier, he was for a long time a complete fraud. It 
was almost impossible to get him on a detail of 
duty. He constantly played the role of being ill. 
But one day when the regiment was going into 
battle this man, of no great intellectual power, of 
no particular strength of moral spirit, was placed 
next the color-guard in a post of honor. As the 
waves of battle swayed back and forth, and men 
went down, and the color-sergeant was shot, and 
the next man to the color-sergeant raised the flag, 
to be shot down immediately, and the third, and 
the fourth, and the fifth man fell, and all the col- 
ors of the whole division were down, and there was 
not a single rally ing-point on which to assemble 
the charge, this man, this bummer, whom his com- 
rades had considered a mean, contemptible soldier 
of no spirit, seized the staff and raised the stars 
and stripes in the center of the brigade, and made 
a rallying- point for the whole division, and carried 
the flag fearlessly through the fight ; and from that 
hour he has been a man of graudeur, a man of 
character, a man of moral force. Afterward he 
told Mr. Wright that it came upon him as a call 



THE GOLD MINE OF HUMANITY. 303 

from heaven. Suddenly, there in the turmoil of 
battle, the Spirit of God spoke to his inmost soul 
and awoke him out of the deadly lethargy in 
which he had lived. Like a lightning flash it 
was revealed to him that there was something 
Godlike in him, and in seizing the colors he con- 
sciously surrendered his heart to a spirit he had 
never realized before — the spirit of duty, the spirit 
of sacrifice. 

If I speak to any one who is discouraged about 
himself, who has fought on the whole a losing 
battle, I pray God that in the midst of your dis- 
couragements you may hear as never before the 
call to give yourself wholly and completely to the 
service of Jesus Christ. All things are possible to 
him who walks in fellowship with the conquering 
Christ. 



THE CONVERSION OF A FAMILY. 



"While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell 
on all them which heard the word. " — Acts x. 44 (Revised 
Version) . 

The place is the house of Cornelius. We do 
not know how large a family he had, but they 
were all gathered together. It is probable that 
not only his children, but some of his neighbors 
and friends, possibly some of the soldiers under 
him, as well as the servants of the family, may 
have been present. Anyhow, it is stated that all 
of his house were there. Peter preached to them a 
very plain and straightforward gospel. Like all 
the preaching of Peter and the early evangelists, 
it was almost entirely about Jesus Christ. First 
he told them about the life of Jesus, stating that 
" God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy 
Ghost and with power: who went about doing 
good." I suppose only the pith of the discourse is 
given in this mere outline of the sermon. Peter, 
no doubt, gave many incidents that had come 
under his own personal observation of the kind- 
ness and tenderness of Jesus toward people who 
304 



THE CONVERSION OF A FAMILY. 



305 



were sick and in trouble. Possibly he told them 
his own experience. It must have broken any 
man's heart to have heard Peter tell the story of 
his own relations with Jesus Christ. Then Peter 
told them about the death of Jesus, how he died 
upon the cross ; or, as he described it, " Whom 
they slew and hanged on a tree." And then he 
tells the story of the resurrection — "Him God 
raised up the third day, and shewed him openly." 
And with this story of the life and death and res- 
urrection of Jesus as a foundation, he proceeds to 
preach Jesus as a present and personal Savior 
from sin, and declares to his attentive hearers, 
" Whosoever believeth in him shall receive remis- 
sion of sins." As Peter preached, "the Holy 
Ghost fell on all them which heard the word." 
And Peter's friends who had come with him, who 
were Jews and had not yet absorbed the great les- 
son which had been taught to Peter, that God is 
no respecter of persons, were amazed and aston- 
ished at the conversion of these Gentiles, and. at 
hearing them shout the praises of God. But Peter 
was thoroughly converted now to the new order of 
things and said, " Can any man forbid water, that 
these should not be baptized, which have received 
the Holy Ghost as well as we? And he com- 
manded them to be baptized in the name of the 
Lord." 

20 



306 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



But the thought which I wish especially to em- 
phasize is the happy fact that Cornelius in accept- 
ing Christ was able to bring his entire household 
with him. It is impossible to overestimate the 
blessedness of religion in the family. I fear that 
there is a decadence in the custom of family wor- 
ship. I think there is reason to believe that the 
family altar is not so common among homes pro- 
fessedly Christian as it has been sometimes in the 
past. The Advance printed, recently, from the pen 
of a distinguished missionary, a letter in which he 
states that before his departure from this country, 
in 1859, he does not remember to have been in a 
Christian home in which family worship was not 
the daily custom. He declares, however, that on 
his recent visit he noticed a marked change that 
made a painful impression on his mind. On the 
first occasion when he was entertained in the 
household of a Christian layman, he did not know 
what to make of it that there was no gathering, 
either morning or night, for the reading of God's 
Word and prayer. Since then he has received the 
hospitality of many families, East and West, and 
now has come to be somewhat surprised when, in 
apparent contrast to the prevailing custom, the 
parents and children come together for family 
worship. There could not be a greater loss than 
this. There is no surer way to promote individ- 



THE CONVERSION OF A FAMILY. 307 

ual and domestic piety than daily worship in the 
home. It is not astonishing that people who have 
no family worship, who arise in the morning with- 
out thanksgiving to God, publicly expressed, for 
his care over them, who gather the household flock 
together at night and retire to be wrapped in sleep 
(twin brother to death) without any word of grat- 
itude or any appeal for the Divine protection, lose 
the keenness of their anxiety for the conversion of 
the individual members of the family. Fathers 
and mothers in such homes grow accustomed to 
the sight of their children growing up with their 
minds absorbed in worldly things, but with no 
thought for the great spiritual interests of their 
souls. 

Cornelius showed great wisdom in seeking to 
bring his household with him when he came to 
Christ. In that union of family worship, in that 
Christian fellowship one with another, there was 
great power. A reporter for one of our daily 
papers was standing on the rear platform of a car 
on the elevated railroad in New York city a few 
evenings ago, when the guard pointed suddenly 
and said, "Did you see that, Mister?" "Yes." 
"Well, then," added the guard, "you saw my 
three little children. They were kneeling on a 
trunk in front of the window of that house we 
passed. Behind them stood their mother. She 



308 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



was about to send them to bed, but before they go 
she teaches them to pray for me. Yes, and she 
brings them there so that I can see them." Then 
with a manly attempt to stifle a sob that swelled 
up in his throat he added, " She has told me what 
she tells them to say." "What is it?" inquired 
the now deeply interested listener. " I hope you 
won't think me foolish, sir; but as I guess you are 
a married man and a father you may care to hear 
it. You see, it is this way: The children, they 
go to bed at nine. That's about the time my train 
goes by the house. It's right on the line. So, 
just about that moment, she brings the little ones 
up to the trunk in their night-gowns and makes 
them kneel down with their hands clasped on their 
faces. And then they pray — " "For you?" was 
the interruption. " Yes, you're right. They pray 
that papa will be good and kind and bring home 
all his money and not drink any more, and — " 
The big guard's voice trembled. "But," he con- 
tinued, with an effort, "I've been a rough man, 
and I have a hard place and many temptations — 
but I love my wife and I love my children. They 
are the only ones on earth that keep me straight." 
What a divine power there is in the conscious- 
ness that the dear ones of the family group are pray- 
ing for us and that we are buoyed up by their ten- 
der sympathy in our efforts to live Christian lives ! 



THE CONVERSION OF A FAMILY. 309 

By their carelessness concerning their own lives 
while their children are growing up, many parents 
plant thorns in their pillows for their later years. 
I speak to some at this time who have little chil- 
dren growing up in the home. God has put them 
into your hands as a sacred trust, and you fully in- 
tend, I am sure, to be true to that trust. Yet you 
are not Christians yourselves. You think that 
somehow you shall be able to bring up your chil- 
dren to love God and live a Christian life while 
you remain outside of the church of God and re- 
fuse your heart's devotion to Jesus Christ. It is 
impossible. And your children will not be very 
old before they will know that father and mother 
are not Christians, and the more they love you and 
admire you and trust you, all the more determin- 
edly they will say in their little hearts, " We will 
not be Christians, either." I have never known 
more terrible grief than I have witnessed in the 
sorrow of some parents who, having neglected to 
seek salvation until their example had led their 
children astray, had at last been aroused and 
awakened, come to God and been forgiven, but 
were unable to bring their children with them. I 
trust there are none who hear me to-night who 
shall make this terrible mistake ! 

Some of you are toiling hard to give your chil- 
dren earthly advantages ; but, after all, they will 



310 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

be useless to them unless they have the spiritual 
riches which alone can glorify a human life. If 
you want to have a powerful influence for good 
over your children, do not let them have any rea- 
son to doubt the genuineness of your religion or 
the sincerity of your desire for their salvation. 

The story is told of a young infidel who one 
night in bed was contemplating the character of 
his mother. " I see," said he within himself, " two 
unquestionable facts : First, my mother is greatly 
afflicted in circumstances, body, and mind ; and I 
see that she cheerfully bears up under all by the 
support she derives from prayer and the reading 
of her Bible. Secondly, she has a secret spring of 
comfort of which I know nothing; while I, who 
give an unbounded rein to my appetite and seek 
pleasure by every means, seldom or never find it. 
If, however, there is any such secret in religion, 
why may I not attain to it as well as my mother? 
I will immediately seek it of God." Thus it was 
that the Christ which shone in his mother's life 
led the brilliant Eichard Cecil to know the Savior 
himself, and to glorify him by a life of most suc- 
cessful devotion to his service. 

I thank God that the message is just as simple 
and plain to-day as it was on the day when Peter 
preached it in the household of Cornelius. Then, 
as now, it is simply to take Christ at his word and 



THE CONVERSION OF A FAMILY. 311 

trust him as our Savior. Many years ago, on a 
snowy winter evening, a homeless boy found him- 
self standing before a chapel at Colchester, Eng- 
land. Altho he was very young, there was a 
great burden of distress upon his mind. He had 
committed no crime; but he had been searching 
for months for salvation. Tired with his search, 
the boy stepped into the chapel and sat down in 
an obscure seat. It was such an unpleasant eve- 
ning that there were loss than twenty people in the 
audience. The preacher was in very ill health 
and near to death. He wondered at first whether 
it would pay to preach to so few. But perhaps 
conscious that he would not much longer have the 
opportunity of preaching the glorious Gospel, he 
stood up, pale and thin as a skeleton, and an- 
nounced his text, "Look unto me, and be ye 
saved." "Why, that's just what I am after," 
thought the boy. Then the preacher turned and 
gazed upon him, and his piercing eyes seemed to 
penetrate his heart. "Young man," he cried in a 
loud voice, "you are in trouble!" "Sure enough, 
I am. How does he know it?" murmured the boy 
to himself. " You will never get out of it unless 
you look to Christ," said the preacher. Then with 
uplifted hands he exclaimed, "Look, look, look! 
It is only look!" This phrase, which may not 
have meant anything to anybody else in the 



312 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

house, meant everything to the troubled boy. His 
heart bounded. The simplicity of the words car- 
ried him straight to Christ. That troubled boy 
was Charles Spurgeon, who became the greatest 
soul-winner of his time. So I say to every one 
here to-night who is out of Christ, who is without 
God and without hope in the world; I invite you, 
nay, I plead with you, to look to Christ and be 
saved ! 



HEROD, THE KING WHO WAS WORM- 
EATEN. 



"Herod arrayed himself in royal apparel, and sat on the 
throne, and made an oration unto them. And the people 
shouted, saying, The voice of a god, and not of a man. 
And immediately an angel of the Lord smote him, because 
he gave not God the glory : and he was eaten of worms and 
gave up the ghost. "—Acts xii. 22, 23 (Revised Version). 

What a wonderful contrast there is in the story 
of Herod between the opening and the closing of 
this chapter! At the beginning he is in great 
seeming prosperity, and stretching forth his hands 
to destroy the Christians ; but before the chapter 
closes he is eaten up by worms, as was one of his 
forerunners. Joseph Parker says that these Her- 
ods were a bad stock, and the worms were ill- 
fated that had to live upon them. 

This particular Herod was a man of great ego- 
tism, fond of display, and willing to sell his soul 
for popular applause. Josephus tells us that he was 
accustomed to wear a robe that was wrought of 
solid silver, which glittered and shone in the sun 

as he moved. No doubt, on this festal occasion, 
313 



314 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

when he came forth before the people in his silver 
robe and sat down to make his oration, he pre- 
sented a very dazzling and splendid appearance. 
The multitude, knowing where his soft spot was, 
doubtless having contempt for him the while they 
did it, greeted him with thunders of applause; 
and Herod, blinded by his own vanity and wick- 
edness, gulped it all down. Even when they cried 
out, " It is the voice of a god, and not of a man," 
the sensual bigot more than half believed it and 
was willing to take to himself even the honor due 
to the Almighty. 

Bat the cup of Herod's iniquity was full. The 
applause had scarcely died away before the angel 
of the Lord "smote him." So it has been with 
many a man who has defied God and scoffed at 
righteousness. Silly lookers-on have said, " It is 
vice that prospers. It is the men that do not care 
about God and about righteousness that get on in 
the world." Wait till the story's done before you 
come to any such decision as that. Herod is not 
the only man whom worms have gnawed to pieces 
under his silver robe. 

We may see in this case the delusion of those 
who believe that it is possible to permanently 
prosper by disobeying God. There is a strange 
chapter in the book of Eevelation, where we are 
told that the bottomless pit was opened and out of 



HEROD, THE KING. 



315 



it came a great smoke, and out of the smoke there 
came forth locusts upon the earth ; and the remark- 
able thing about these locusts was that they were 
dressed up to represent the most terrible creatures 
of war. They had sham crowns on their heads 
that looked like gold, they had faces like men, 
and teeth like lions, and breastplates that seemed 
to be made out of iron, and when they flapped 
their wings they made a great sound like chariots 
running; but they were only locusts after all, and 
their power was for but a few months, and they 
vanished away. All the promises of sin are like 
that, and they come from the same place — the bot- 
tomless pit. Sin promises great things, but it 
never gives what it promises. The crowns of sin 
are never real solid golden crowns, but, like those 
on the mystical locusts, they are only sham ; they 
are crowns "as it were." As Dr. W. L. Watkin- 
son says, sin always acts by an infernal magic ; it 
is full of illusions, imposition, and mocker}-. The 
prizes of sin and worldliness are always cruel 
shams. They look well, they seem splendid, they 
shine from afar, they captivate the imagination, 
they kindle ambition and desire, but they lack 
reality; when you lay hold upon them they are 
tantalizing vapors. Sinners never get any of the 
grand things for which they sell themselves. 
They get these things only as the locusts did their 



316 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

crowns — " as it were." There is a terrible irony in 
sin. It promises a great deal, and, in a sense, it 
fulfils its pledges, but in a satiric, mocking way. 
Its promises are — 

" Juggling fiends, 
That palter with us in a double sense ; 
That keep the word of promise to our ear, 
And break it in our hope. " 

The devil promised Adam and Eve that on parta- 
king of the fruit of the tree of wisdom they should 
be as gods and have the knowledge of good and 
evil ; and so we have had the knowledge of good 
and evil, but with it the flaming sword, the thorns, 
and aches, and pains, and sorrows that have cursed 
our race. The devil promised Achan a wedge of 
gold and a beautiful Babylonish garment, but when 
he got them he had to bury them in his tent, and 
then, like Eugene Aram's victim, they could not 
be hid, and in the end they buried him. The 
devil promised Gehazi a scarlet robe. He sold his 
soul to get it, and when he got it he became a 
leper. That is the history of the promises of sin. 
Sinful ambition promised Napoleon universal con- 
quest and glory, and he lived the last years of his 
life a prisoner. It is not only the great Herods 
and Napoleons and Nebuchadnezzars who are eat- 
en of worms, or sent to eat grass like oxen. God is 



HEROD, THE KING. 



317 



no respecter of persons, and it is as true now as it 
was when Paul wrote it to the Galatians : " He 
that soweth unto his own flesh shall of the flesh 
reap corruption ; but he that soweth unto the Spirit 
shall of the Spirit reap eternal life." A man may 
think he can deceive God, but he is certain to be 
mistaken in the end. "Be not deceived; God 
is not to be mocked : for whatsoever a man sow- 
eth, that shall he also reap." Men who give them- 
selves up to acquiring success in a worldly way for 
their own selfish ends, without regard to God or 
his claims upon them, lose all the beauty and glory 
there is in success after it is achieved. To a man 
who labors and plans to win prosperity and gather 
money or influence and power with noble purposes 
in view, holding his ability and talent as a loan 
from God, regarding himself as a trustee, a stew- 
ard, of every treasure that comes into his hands, 
purposing to use everything for the benefit and 
blessing of all God's children, to such a man pros- 
perity has an unfading glory. But when a man 
has built up his prosperity on pride and vanity and 
selfishness, by sharp tricks, caring not what the 
result shall be save only that he shall succeed, all 
the glory dies out of it, and it becomes disgusting. 
" The burglar seizes property, but in his hands it 
is no longer property, but pillage. The sensual 
man seizes love, but beautiful love thus seized in- 



318 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



stantly dies and becomes a ghastly corpse that we 
call lust. The ambitious man seizes greatness, 
but the moment that he touches it in the spirit of 
egotism and pride the splendid crown becomes 
tinsel. The coveted thing, whatever it be, loses 
its essence when the lawless lust has got it." Any- 
thing that you obtain by sinning against God and 
doing violence to your conscience you may be sure 
will lose all its preciousness and sweetness. 

Some of you are refusing the Lord Jesus Christ 
and his claim to your open confession and service 
because you want pleasure, and yet I do assure 
you that real, abiding, satisfying pleasure will 
never be obtained by those who stifle their convic- 
tions of right and duty in order to purchase it. 

The wise old Hassan sat in his door, when three 
young men pressed eagerly by. 

"Are ye following after any one, my sons?" he 
said. 

"I follow after Pleasure," said the eldest. 

" And I after Riches," said the second. " Pleas- 
ure is only to be found with Riches." 

" And you, my little one?" he asked of the third. 

"I follow after Duty," he modestly said. And 
each went his way. 

The aged Hassan in his journey came upon 
three men. 

" My son," he said to the eldest, "methinks thou 



HEROD, THE KING. 



319 



wert the youth who was following after Pleasure. 
Didst thou overtake her?" 

"No, father," answered the man. "Pleasure is 
but a phantom that flies as one approaches." 

" Thou didst not follow the right way, my son." 

"How didst thou fare?" he asked of the second. 

" Pleasure is not with Riches," he answered with 
a sigh. 

"And thou?" continued Hassan, addressing the 
youngest. 

" As I walked with Duty," he replied, " Pleasure 
walked ever by my side." 

" It is always thus," said the old man. " Pleas- 
ure pursued is never overtaken. Only her shadow 
is caught by him who pursues. She herself goes 
hand in hand with Duty; and they who make 
Duty their companion have also the companion- 
ship of Pleasure." 

Learn the lesson of the old fable. You are 
cheating your soul when you stay away from 
Christ because you want pleasure, or happiness, 
or joy, or whatever name you give it. In doing 
so you are running after delusive phantoms and 
cheating visions and turning your back on the 
only real fountain of joy. 

I would to God I knew how to bring to your 
mind in some new and startling way, that would 
arouse you and cause you to see clearly, this truth — - 



320 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

that there is no more deadly peril to an immortal 
soul than to become ensnared with worldiness. 
To a great extent people look with many degrees 
of allowance upon this sort of sin. It hardly 
seems sin to them. Yet God's Word calls it idol- 
atry, and our own observation shows us that the 
insidious meshes of worldly pleasure, and worldly 
desires, and selfish interests, draw more souls 
away from the high and holy life to which Jesus 
Christ calls us than almost any other sin. This 
sin of worldliness, which is causing some of you 
to refuse and neglect this great salvation, can only 
be overcome by striking at its very center, by 
surrendering your whole heart and life to Jesus 
Christ and his service. 

Two brothers were out fishing off the Farallones 
on the Pacific coast a few weeks ago, wheD they 
felt a tremendous strain on one of their lines. 
They were fishing for rock cod, but the fisherman 
who lay back and braced himself to meet the strain 
on his line knew that he had hooked something 
very different. He shouted for his brother to help 
him, and, each wondering what kind of a creature 
was making such a desperate fight at the other end, 
they hauled in the line inch by inch. At last, the 
waving tentacles of a huge devil-fish shot through 
the water and the fishermen knew they had hooked 
something they did not want. They twitched the 



HEROD, THE KING. 



321 



line away, and tried to escape, but it was too late. 
The angry devil-fish clapped a powerful feeler over 
the side of the boat, and in much less time than it 
takes to tell it, the men were fighting for their 
lives. The fishermen knew that their only hope 
was to stun the creature. One grabbed an oar and 
the other a hatchet, and, keeping out of the reach 
of the long tentacles, they watched for an oppor- 
tunity to get in a good blow. The one with the 
hatchet struck off a section of the tentacle nearest 
him, but that did not do much good; there were 
plenty more tentacles and an abundance of fight in 
possession of*the fish. All the while the boat was 
rocking at a furious rate. For a time it looked as 
if the waves might help the devil-fish in his efforts 
to either upset the boat or clamber into it. For 
the first few minutes, in rocking strife, the devil- 
fish had it pretty much his own way, for the men 
found they had their hands full in trying to keep 
their places in the boat. Suddenly a lunge of the 
boat sent one of the men rolling head first right 
past the blazing eye of the enraged fish. A tenta- 
cle shot round him, and the next moment he was 
tangled up in three of the monster's hideous de- 
fenders and fighting the hardest fight he ever 
fought in his life. Indeed, his life would have 
ended then and there but for his brother. While 

the devil-fish was busy getting a good grip on the 
21 



322 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

chest and neck of his victim and a satisfactory- 
purchase on the boat, the other fisherman picked 
up a short club and managed to put in a smash- 
ing blow on the head of their foe. That did not 
do much good, and he looked about for the hatch- 
et to cut the gripping tentacles from around his 
brother. " The knife, the knife ! " shouted the 
man in the toils. " Stick him with your knife !" 
The man was yet free who wanted to slash off the 
tentacles, but the poor fellow who was fighting 
hard against them still had breath enough left to 
tell his brother to cut into the throat. And the 
other, watching his chance, plunged his knife 
deep into the soft pulp of the creature's neck. 
That settled the fight. Gradually the feelers re- 
laxed, and the fisherman drew himself out from 
their loathsome grasp, thankful for his life. 

You may see illustrated in that gruesome inci- 
dent the fatal mistake which many people make in 
trying to save themselves from evil habits, from 
worldly tendencies, from unholy appetites that are 
pulliug them into sin and iniquity and threatening 
them with ruin. Ever and anon, seeing their 
danger, they arise up in some sudden impulse for 
reform or some resolution to do better, and, like 
the fisherman with his hatchet, try to slash off 
some of the tentacles of evil that have wound their 
loathsome folds about their lives. Alas ! the mon- 



HEROD, THE KING. 



323 



ster evil itself is not attacked. The iniquity of 
the sinful heart is left, and so long as it remains 
new tentacles will grow again, and it is only a 
question of time when the soul will be destroyed 
beyond the reach of remedy. He is the wise man 
who is like the fisherman in the toils of the devil- 
fish when he shouted to his brother not to waste 
his time cutting off the feelers of the monster, but 
to stab him in the throat, and thus destroy his 
very life. 

It is to such a complete conquest that I call you 
to-night. I do not ask you to register another of 
a thousand attempts to do better, or cut off some 
one besetting sin, or break loose from some pecul- 
iarly uncomfortable vice; but I call upon you in 
the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, who came 
down from heaven and died on the cross to redeem 
you not only from the guilt but from the power of 
sin, to break loose from all sin and give your 
whole heart to him who is able to cleanse and keep 
you pure. 



A LIGHT IN THE PRISON CELL. 



"Behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light 
shined in the cell." — Acts xii. 7 (Revised Version). 

This is one of the most sublime and beautiful 
pictures in all the portrait-gallery of the Bible. 
Herod, cruel and wicked, willing to build himself 
up by popular applause gained by shedding inno- 
cent blood, had already killed James, the brother 
of John. And for no other reason than to gain 
popular applause he seized upon Peter and cast him 
into prison. To human eyes Peter's is a hopeless 
case. He is already condemned in the Emperor's 
mind. But any such conclusion leaves God out of 
the account. Outside the prison there was a prayer- 
meeting where day and night unceasing prayer 
was made by the servants of Christ, pleading with 
God that Peter might be released. We do not 
know how many there were at that prayer-meet- 
ing. Barnabas was there, a rich man who had 
consecrated his wealth to the service of the Master ; 
Mary, the mother of Mark, was there, who opened 
her house to the people of God and counted it an 

honor that the church meetings were held in her 
324 



A LIGHT IN THE PRISON CELL. 325 



home ; John Mark was there, a young man who 
had nothing else to give, and so gave himself 
to the Lord Jesus. And then there was a little 
girl, Rhoda. Who else we do not know, but there 
were others who were friends of Peter and they 
gave themselves up in prayer to God. They were 
praying all night, for to-morrow, unless God shall 
interfere, Peter will be led out to his death. 

Christian friends, learn the great lesson of this 
midnight prayer-meeting. If you have dear ones 
who are in the dungeon of sin, who are held in 
bondage by the cords of iniquity, and there seems 
to be no hope for them, do not despair, but give 
yourself up to God in prayer for them. Get some- 
body else to join in with you, and keep them con- 
stantly before the Throne of Grace. 

In the mean time, how fares it with Peter? He 
is in a cell made of massive rock, and sixteen 
armed soldiers, all answerable with their lives for 
his safe-keeping, keep guard over him. Not only 
so, but he is fastened with two chains, and there 
are three great bolted gates, each guarded by 
armed soldiers, to keep one unarmed, defenseless 
preacher of the Gospel. Dr. March says that the 
care with which Peter was kept was a confession 
that even Herod was afraid of him. And how 
about Peter himself, who expects to die on the 
morrow, a martyr to his Lord? How is he spend- 



326 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



ing the night? Why, bless your soul, he is sleep- 
ing as sweetly as a little child, lying on the prison 
floor. There is no sleeping draught in the world 
like the consciousness of sins forgiven, the assur- 
ance that one is doing right, the confidence that 
one is working together with God to build up the 
cause of righteousness in the earth. Peter slept so 
soundly there on the stone floor, with each hand 
chained to a soldier on either side, that the light 
which shone from the presence of the angel that 
came to rescue him did not awaken him. The 
angel had to speak to him and shake him in order 
to wake him up from his sound sleep. A man 
with a conscience void of offense toward God and 
man can sleep in the face of peril, knowing that 
"all things work together for good" to him be- 
cause he loves God. But the angel arouses Peter, 
and says to him, "Rise up quickly." Peter was 
not unaccustomed to marvelous manifestations of 
the power of God in behalf of his children, and yet 
it is not astonishing that at first he thought it was 
only a heavenly dream. There stands before him 
the beautiful angel. A voice gentle but firm calls 
him, and as he seeks to obey it the chains fall from 
his hands. Again the voice sounds in quick, 
earnest tones: "Gird thyself, and bind on thy 
sandals." He clothes himself as in a dream. 
There the armed soldiers lay on the floor in their 



A LIGHT IN THE PRISON CELL. 327 



heavy sleep. "Follow me," says the angel, as 
he moves toward the bolted door, and Peter fol- 
lows as tho walking in a maze. How they got 
through that door Peter does not remember, but 
he finds himself outside, still following the angel. 
The guards outside also slumber on as they pass. 
They cross the prison court and come to the sec- 
ond gate. But nothing stands in the way of this 
celestial messenger and his follower. At last they 
come to the outer iron gate, but the angel has keys 
for everything, and the great gate swings on its 
hinges, and the two pass out into the public street. 
Peter follows his guide, wondering what is to come 
next, when suddenly he finds himself alone. He 
has come to himself now, and he sees it is no 
dream. His garments are about him, he has his 
sandals on his feet, the walls of the prison are be- 
hind him, he stands in the public street, and im- 
mediately proceeds to the prayer-meeting to tell 
them of his glorious release. 

I have chosen our theme this evening to call 
your attention to the great truth that God sends 
the light of hope and mercy into the darkest prison 
cells of earth. Peter was not dearer to God than 
is any one of you. He is seeking after you with 
the light of heavenly sympathy and of tender, 
pitying love. There is no dungeon so dark but 
that the light of that love can penetrate it and lead 



328 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

the imprisoned soul out to new liberty and free- 
dom. There is no comparison for sin which more 
aptly illustrates its baneful influence than when it 
is likened to a bondage. The prisoners of sin are 
the saddest prisoners in the world; but, thank 
God ! there is no bondage of iniquity so cruel, and 
no prison of sin so dark, that the light of God's 
mercy does not shine into it and offer to lead the 
prisoner out to freedom. 

A brother minister tells this story : In an inn in 
a small village, where the chief business was to 
sell strong drink, the proprietor died a death of 
hopeless despair. The old man whose soul had 
been ruined by his business had at the last told 
his only son, to whom the business fell as an in- 
heritance, the terrible story of his own life. It 
was a tragic story that came from those poor, 
death-blanched lips. It began with the pure love 
of husband and wife in a new and happy home ; 
the first-born boy; then the mother's sickness and 
early death ; hard work on the part of the father, 
and growing zeal to do well, especially for his 
child — the " do well" meaning to get money ; the 
arguing with conscience till, offended, it almost 
ceased to speak ; quibbling with evil till it seemed 
goodness; coveting the devil's ways till they 
seemed paths of brightness. Finally, he traded 
the cottage home for the village inn, in order to 



A LIGHT IN THE PRISON CELL. 329 

make money. The voice of blasphemy soon 
choked the voice of conscience. The love of sin 
cast out the love of God. The boy grew up used 
only to this life of money-getting by moral losing. 
He had a sweet, sweet memory of something 
brighter, and it grew real by the dying father's 
bedside. The dew of death was on the old man's 
brow, and the finished life of earth, like a horrid 
nightmare of crushing defeat, made him cry out, 
" Get out of it, my lad, get out !" The young man 
like a little child knelt down for the first time in 
his father's presence, also the death presence, and 
he prayed : " O God, O God, help me, help me, for 
my own sweet lassie's sake. Brighten her life as 
mine was darkened when it is easy to forget. O 
God, help me, help me, for it is hard to change !" 

Two weeks passed by. It was a dark winter eve- 
ning and only two spots shone out with strong light 
— the church and the inn. It was Sabbath eve- 
ning, and the church folks were speaking, thinking, 
praying about their greatest outward hindrance in 
their service of the Christ. The preacher, know- 
ing that the dying man had besought his son to 
get out of his wicked business, went to the prodi- 
gal in the inn, to plead with him to come to God's 
house. He spoke of his dying father's charge, 
and of his own child's safety. He spoke to him 
tenderly of his own vow, which he seemed to be 



330 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

forgetting. At first the young man seemed only 
sorrowfully sullen, saying: "I can't come to- 
night, I can't possibly." The devil had again 
made his slave a coward. He went with the 
preacher to the door, and then suddenly shut it 
with them both outside. Seizing the arm of the 
puzzled minister, he hurried him across the vil- 
lage street, on to the village green, under a wide- 
spreading chestnut-tree, where they were hidden. 
Then, falling on the preacher's neck, he wept like 
a broken-hearted boy, and cried out like a fast- 
bound slave of sin : " Oh, I do want to get out 
before I lose the wish! For my child's sake I 
want to get out. But the landlord will not free 
me at once. It makes me almost swear to hear 
him say he knows a good tenant when he's got 
one. I do want to get out ! Let me go to church 
with you. But no, I can't! Oh, that hell-shop 
yonder! I won't go back! It's impossible to be 
good in there." 

That young man found God's minister who led 
him out of his business into new and wholesome 
associations to be as surely the messenger of 
heaven as was the angel who struck off Peter's 
chains and opened for him the iron gate. 

Possibly I speak to some this evening who are 
not only chained by their evil habits and guarded 
by their besetting sins, but are walled in by sinful 



A LIGHT IN THE PRISON CELL. 331 



associations and friendships from which they must 
be separated if they are to be saved. Many a man 
has had to break with all his old associations, and 
permit the angel of God to lead him from the dun- 
geon of sinful friendships into the fellowship of 
the saints in the prayer-meeting, before it was 
possible for him to lead the new life in Christ 
Jesus. Make up your mind here and now that 
nothing shall stand between you and an open and 
joyous Christian life. Pray God that all the 
prison doors of your heart may be thrown open 
and that the light of heaven may shine in. Some 
one sings : 

" Open the door, let in the air, 
The winds are sweet and the flowers are fair ; 
Joy is abroad in the world to-day, 
If our door is wide open he may come this way. 
Open the door. 

" Open the door, let in the sun ; 
He hath a smile for every one ; 
He hath made of the raindrops golden gems, 
He may change our tears to diadems. 
Open the door. 

' Open the door of the heart ; let in 
Sympathy sweet for stranger and kin ; 
It will make the halls of the heart so fair 
That angels can enter unaware. 
Open the door. 



332 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

" Open the door of the soul ; let in 

Strong, pure thoughts, which shall banish sin ; 
They will grow and bloom with a grace divine, 
And their fruit shall be sweeter than that of the vine. 
Open the door. " 

And you may open the door to all these by open- 
ing the door to Jesus Christ. 

Do not to-night cheat your own soul by sum- 
moning your pride and saying, " I am not a very 
great sinner, after all." Be honest with your own 
heart, and do you not know that there is sin in 
the mastery that temper, and self-will, and pas- 
sion have over you; in the unsafe habits of your 
lives? These things make you to know as well as 
God knows that your heart is wrong and wicked. 
As Dr. McLaren says, we do not need to go to 
inebriate homes where there are people who would 
cut their right hands off if they could get rid of 
the craving, and can not, to find instances of this 
bondage. People who pride themselves on their 
respectability have only to be honest with them- 
selves, and to try to pull the boat against the 
stream instead of letting it drift with it, to know 
the force with which the current runs. A tiny 
thread, like a spider's, draws after it a bit of cot- 
ton a little thicker, and knotted to that there is a 
piece of pack-thread, and after that a two-stranded 
cord, and then a cable that might hold an iron- 



A LIGHT IN THE PRISON CELL. 333 



clad at anchor. That is a parable of how we draw 
to ourselves, by imperceptible degrees, an ever- 
thickening set of manacles that bind our wills 
and make us the servants of sin. "His slaves 
ye are whom ye obey." If ever you are to know 
the joys of salvation, if ever you are to have peace 
with God, if ever you are to join the blood- washed 
throng in heaven, these chains of sin must be 
broken off. I come to you at this time as the 
messenger of God, and in the words of the angel 
to Peter I say, "Rise up quickly!" Remember 
that the first step toward your salvation — since 
Christ has made atonement for you, and the Holy 
Spirit has convicted you of sin, and I, as the am- 
bassador of Christ, bring you his invitation — must 
come from you. Do not wait thinking that some 
marvelous operation of the Divine Spirit will save 
you without your action in the matter. As Dr. 
Wayland Hoyt points out, in commenting on this 
very Scripture, God never does for us what we can 
do for ourselves. Peter could not get himself out 
of prison ; so God sent his angel. Peter could not 
smite off his chains ; and the angel smote them off 
for him. But Peter could bind on his sandals; 
that the angel did not do for him. Peter coidd, 
cast his garments about himself; that the angel 
did not do for him. Peter could follow the angel; 
and the angel did not carry him. Peter could not 



334 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



open the prison's iron gates; and they were di- 
vinely opened for him. Peter could go through 
the gates; and he was not carried through. No- 
body doubts that if Peter had refused to do what 
he could do, God would not have given him help 
to what he could not do. That is the message of 
God to your souls. Rise up quickly and follow 
the light you have, gird up the loins of your will, 
and God will smite off the chains of sin, and open 
the prison doors, and lead you out to glorious 
freedom. 



THE LIVING HOPE. 

" Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
who according to his great mercy begat us again unto a 
living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the 
dead, unto an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and 
that fadethnot away, reserved in heaven for you." — 1 Peter 
i. 3, 4 (Revised Version). 

Hope is the mainspring of human life. When 
the mainspring is broken, the watch ceases to run. 
When hope is dead, the man ceases to act. There 
is no medicine that science has ever discovered so 
powerful as hope. There is no elixir of courage 
that will so inspirit an army and send it to victory 
as hope. No man is defeated so long as hope 
lives. No man can be victorious after hope is 
gone. An Indian on Lake Erie, who had taken to 
his canoe after being worn out by the chase, fell 
asleep and drifted into the rapids above Niagara. 
He did not awake until the current was sweeping 
his frail boat swiftly to destruction. At last he 
was aroused by the shouts of horror-stricken spec- 
tators on the shore. He sprang to his feet and saw 

at a glance that his doom was inevitable. He did 
335 



336 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

not touch the paddle, nor make a single cry, but 
with the stoicism of his race and the calmness of 
despair resumed his seat, folding his arms across 
his breast, and was hurled to his horrible death. 
Hope had died out of his heart. 

It was a feeling something akin to that despair 
of the Indian that the disciples had when they saw 
Jesus die on the cross and carried his mangled and 
wounded form and laid it away in Joseph's tomb. 
Their hopes fled. This is illustrated in the lan- 
guage of the two disciples whom Jesus overtook 
on the way to Emmaus. When he asked them 
why they were so sad they told him about the 
crucifixion of their Master, and how they had 
hoped that he was to have been the Redeemer of 
Israel. But all this darkness of doubt and fear 
and despair was dissipated by the resurrection of 
Christ ; and Peter declares that to be the founda- 
tion of "the living hope " of the Christian. 

It is this living hope which I wish to present 
to you to-night. Christianity is ever new and full 
of vitality because it centers about the personal, 
living Christ. Jesus says, in the Revelation, "I 
am he that . . . was dead, and . . . am alive 
forevermore." The living personality of Christ is 
the vitalizing power of Christianity everywhere. 
And every one who takes hold upon Christ by 
faith is electrified by the life-giving current and 



THE LIVING HOPE. 



337 



stimulated to noble purpose and holy living as 
truly as were Peter and John who came in per- 
sonal contact with him while he dwelt in the flesh. 

There is everything about Christianity and 
about the Christ who is its center and its heart to 
attract youth. Young men and young women 
who are attracted by life and activity, and whose 
hearts, unless prematurely withered and dried by 
artificial surroundings, open naturally to heroic 
and daring appeals, can surely find nowhere such 
inspiring leadership as in Jesus of Nazareth. 
"Ian Maclaren," the writer of those sweet Scotch 
stories which everybody is reading, draws atten- 
tion in a most graphic manner to the fact that 
Jesus drew about him during his early ministry a 
group of young men who were full of courage, and 
who were inspired with hope by the vitality which 
filled the personality of Jesus. There was about 
Christ an atmosphere of enthusiasm that consti- 
tuted his first attraction. His kingdom was to do 
away with artificial distinctions, to embrace all 
kinds of people, to bring every wrong to an end, 
to award the crown to goodness alone. And we 
must fight toward that glorious ideal. Wo be to 
the man who pulls down the standard of Jesus 
Christ and makes compromises with the world, 
the flesh, and the devil in order for seeming and 
temporary success. It is the glory of Jesus Christ 
22 



338 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



that he makes no compromise with anything that 
is wrong. His sublime appeal to the youthful 
heart is to struggle toward the very mountain-top 
of nobility of life. When Jesus was on earth he 
naturally gathered about him daring souls who 
loved life and heroism. Following Jesus meant 
high spirit, and that had died down to gray ashes 
on the cold hearthstone of worldly hearts; it 
meant risk, which is often abhorrent to people 
with an assured capital, either in money or repu- 
tation. But those are the very arguments that 
ever win brave souls. There is an age when the 
love of danger is in a man's blood, and he is ready 
to woo hardship as a bribe. I speak to some here 
who have read of heroic deeds of other days and 
who have been conscious of something within the 
heart which has responded to the heroism of those 
early times. You have said, " There is something 
in me that could do deeds like that under certain 
conditions and opportunities. 3 ' Jesus Christ ap- 
peals to that romantic spirit which, to some de- 
gree, is in every human heart, and especially in 
the heart of youth. The very exertion and un- 
flinching moral courage, the opposition to the 
world, the battle with sin — all these appeal to 
everything that is heroic, romantic, and splendid 
in human nature. 

I impress this upon you because I am trying to 



THE LIVING HOPE. 



339 



uproot the false opinion which you may have 
had that religion is in some way unnatural to you. 
Nothing could be farther from the truth than to 
suppose that to become a Christian is to dry up 
and narrow the streams of life which God has be- 
stowed upon us. Instead, no one lives fully until 
his whole nature is aroused by coming in contact 
with Jesus Christ. To become a Christian is not 
a mere negative affair. It does not mean that in 
some arbitrary, artificial way the heart shall be 
fenced off from the natural joys and pleasures of 
human life. It means, rather, that a nature that 
has been only partially developed, and it may be 
has been marred and hurt by sin so that some of 
its divinest faculties have lost their power to take 
in joy and gladness, shall be so thoroughly restored 
that the whole man or woman shall have all fac- 
ulties complete under the control of a purified and 
noble spirit. 

Christ came to give us life ; and not only so, but 
more abundant life than can be had any other 
way. He stands before the 3 r oung man or the 
young woman who is conscious of vitality and a 
desire to do, and dare, and be something that is 
worth doing, and daring, and being among their 
fellows ; wishing in their best moments that they 
might rise out of the dusty commonplace and be 
of some real power and force and blessing to hu- 



340 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

inanity; Christ stands before all such, and says: 
" What you want is life in mind and heart — life to 
give power and joy. Religion is not only morality 
and doctrinal statements; it overflows all such 
boundaries ; it is life. Begin to live at once, there 
in your place, by hearing my call and obeying it. 
You have existed for yourself; now forget and 
deny self and live for others. This is my cross — 
accept it, carry it, rejoice in it. The moment you 
lift it, you will feel the exhilaration of life ; and 
the longer you carry it, you will have life more 
abundantly." 

Oh, that I knew how to inspire you with the 
spirit of that appeal which Christ is making to 
you ! In him is the living hope that never fades 
away. Riches may take wings and fly away, but 
they have no power to check the upspringing 
fountain of that inner life which was not born of 
them, did not depend on them for sustenance, and 
is not impoverished by their loss. Friends may 
misunderstand or prove unfaithful, or grow cold 
and neglectful; but the spiritual friendship with 
Jesus Christ, which is the most helpful and inspir- 
ing of all the friendships humanity can know, will 
seem all the nearer and more precious in such a 
time of trial. The tide of physical health may 
run low. Sickness may lay its hand upon the 
house in which we live, under the withering touch 



THE LIVING HOPE. 



341 



of disease the hair may grow prematurely gray, 
and the trembling weakness of the worn-out frame 
may tell of shortened life on earth, and prophesy 
the speedy end of the mortal career ; but the inner 
life, the living hope, the immortality, born of son- 
ship to God and fellowship with the conquering 
Christ, runs all the more fully in its current, glis- 
tens the more brilliantly in the sun, and grows 
brighter and brighter unto the perfect day. 

I thank God that our Christianity is something 
so vital and full of living power that any poor 
wanderer who has strayed from God and lost hope 
may find in Jesus Christ a hand strong enough to 
lift him out of the Slough of Despond into which 
he has fallen and set his feet on the way of safety. 

Mrs. Ballington Booth relates an interesting lit- 
tle story about her little boy. The War Cry once 
had a picture of a boat in the midst of the sea, and 
all around it were struggling, gasping, sinking- 
men and women. In the rear of the boat was 
General Booth reaching out his hand to the drown- 
ing. His little grandson, who is only a few years 
old, looked and looked at the picture, deeply inter- 
ested in it. At last, he said, "Mamma, what is 
grandpa doing? Is he trying to get people into 
the boat, or is he just shaking hands with them?" 
Jesus Christ did not come, and does not come to- 
day, on simply a mission of entertainment, or even 



342 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



of moral improvement, but as a divine rescuer of the 
lost and the perishing. It is a real hand of rescue — ■ 
kind, and tender, and loving, but strong and power- 
ful as kind — which he reaches forth to every one 
sinking beneath the waves of sorrow and sin. 

This theme ought to have in it a message of en- 
couragement for all who have striven and failed, 
or for those who have neglected until the tempter 
has whispered : " It is too late." The living Christ 
calls you to-day out of your lethargy with the as- 
surance that all things are possible with God, and 
that if you will courageously accept the invitation 
of Christ nothing shall be able to stand against 
you in your struggle for a new and glorious life. 
As Paul Hamilton Hayne sings: 

" 'Tis the part of a coward to brood 

O'er the past that is withered and dead ; 
What tho the heart's roses are ashes and dust? 
What tho the heart's music be fled? 
Still shine the grand heavens o'erhead, 
Whence the voice of an angel thrills clear on the soul, 
'Gird about thee thine armor, press on to the goal. ' 

" If the faults or the crimes of thy youth 
Are a burden too heavy to bear, 
What hopes can re-bloom on the desolate waste 
Of a jealous and craven despair? 
Down, down with the fetters of fear ! 
In the strength of thy valor and manhood arise. 
With the faith that illumes and the will that defies. 



THE LIVING HOPE, 



343 



"Too late ! Through God's infinite world, 
From his throne to life's nethermost fires, 
Too late is a phantom that flies at the dawn 
Of the soul that repents and aspires. 
If pure thou hast made thy desires, 
There's no height the strong wings of immortals may gain 
Which in striving to reach thou shalt strive for in vain. 

" Then up to the contest with fate ; 

Unbound by the past which is dead ! 
What tho the heart's roses are ashes and dust? 
What tho the heart's music be fled? 
Still shine the fair heavens o'erhead ; 
And sublime as the angel that rules in the sun 
Beams the promise of peace when the conflict is won. " 

It is to this new life of dauntless hope I call you 
at this hour. It is the only hope that can glorify 
human life and cause it to grow more beautiful as 
the years go on.. As Dr. Lyman Abbott recently 
said, let a man live under the impression that the 
horizon of this present time is the horizon of his 
life, and I do not see how he can help, at times, 
asking himself, Is life worth living? and sha- 
king his head sorrowfully in reply. It is only the 
glorious assurance that life here and now has its 
roots in immortality, that here and now we have 
close kinship with heaven, and that the purposes 
and hopes that animate us to-day instead of being 
destroyed by death shall find their completion and 



344 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

fruition in the realm beyond death, that makes 
life a sweet and glorious benediction. "Life is 
like an ocean voyage. The man comes out in the 
morning from his cabin, and starts to walk the 
deck. Whether it is a little boat or a big one does 
not make much difference; for after a few years 
he has traversed the whole deck from stern to 
stem, stands on the bow and knows all the life 
that is. What then? Lie down to sleep, wearied 
one, in the morning thou shalt wake in harbor, a 
new continent before you, and your friends there 
waiting to receive you. This is the anchor that 
you are to throw out while you wish for day: 
weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh 
in the morning." 

Blessed are those whose illuminated hearts bear 
witness to the morning! I invite you to the 
Christ, "the Light of the World," who can dispel 
earth's darkness, and who himself shall be the 
glory of the morning. 



THE DRIED-UP SPRINGS OF LIFE. 



"These are springs without water." — 2 Peter ii. 17 {Re- 
vised Version). 

This is Peter's characterization of certain peo- 
ple who live for the senses, and are devoted to the 
pleasures of a worldly life. It is a very striking 
picture. To appreciate it one must have lived or 
traveled some time in a mountainous or hilly 
country where the treasures of the snow are gath 
ered in the great reservoirs of the mountains, and, 
when the springtime comes, and the sun is high 
in the heavens, and the days are long, the snow 
melting on the long mountain slopes finds its way 
down through the fissures in the rocks, and, fol- 
lowing underground channels, comes out down the 
mountain-sides and among the foot-hills in bub- 
bling springs of pure water. I was born among 
the hills, and on my father's farm in my childhood 
there were a number of these springs. Some of 
them were ever-living. Summer or winter seemed 
to make no difference to them. In hot or cold 
they poured forth their full, fresh tide of cool, 
sweet water from some great reservoir so inex- 
345 



346 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



haustible and so protected that it could not be 
reached by the cold or checked by heat. But on 
the same farm there were other springs that, when 
the warm rains came in the early springtime, 
gushed forth an abundance of water. A stranger 
passing through the country might have thought 
that these were the most valuable springs on the 
farm; but later in the season these fountains 
which did not draw their water from any channel 
from the mountains, but from some little local 
watershed among the hills about them, gradually 
narrowed their output until by the time the hot 
days of July had come they were dried up entirely, 
and the channel where the promising stream had 
run in April was dry and bare. 

This is the picture which Peter sets before us 
as a portrait of the man or woman who, instead of 
drawing hope, and courage, and strength from the 
high hills of righteousness and the lofty reservoirs 
of the Bible and prayer, depends upon the local 
watershed of the earth. Tell me the source from 
whence you get your strength and pleasures, and 
I will tell you how long they will endure and when 
your spring will run dry. 

Let us inquire for a moment what are some of . 
the springs of life that are necessarily temporary, 
and must in the nature of things soon dry up, and 
refuse to give us joy and peace. 



THE DRIED- UP SPRINGS OF LIFE. 347 



The first is youth. It is a spring, a source of 
pleasure and joy to every one who makes the jour- 
ney of life. There is a certain hopefulness, an 
elasticity, an abounding optimism about youth 
which finds joy of some sort in almost everything. 
It is a period when it is delightful simply to be 
alive, to breathe the air, to look upon the trees and 
the sky, to scent the flowers, to sleep, to dream, to 
grow, to peer toward the mysterious future and 
wonder concerning the hidden possibilities of this 
new developing life. Yes, youth is a spring, a 
fountain of joy and pleasure. I speak of mere 
physical youth ; the fact that life is yet to be lived 
and that one may make it what he will. But de- 
lightful and glorious as this fountain is, it is cer- 
tain that it comes from the local watershed of life 
and will soon have poured all the waters from 
its slender reservoir. Its springtime has already 
passed for most of us, and for many it has passed 
altogether. Youth is a spring that will dry up for 
every one. 

Health is a spring of joy and strength, a natural 
source of gladness and delight. To stand out in 
the broad sunlight of God's day and feel that your 
physical and intellectual manhood is strong and 
complete, that all the organs and faculties of body 
and mind work harmoniously together, and that 
you have in all its wholesome roundness the power 



348 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

to do among your fellows what a man or woman 
can do, is a bountiful source of joy and delight, 
and a cause for profound thanksgiving to God on 
the part of every one that possesses it. But this, 
too, is a spring that will dry up. No man's body 
is so perfect but that it may be wounded and man- 
gled by some accident or misfortune before to-mor- 
row night. No woman's figure is so graceful or 
features so beautiful but sickness may distort the 
one and blight the other with scarcely a moment's 
warning. Disease lurks in the very air we 
breathe and waits for us morning and night, and 
soon the strongest arm must tremble and the most 
giant-like form recline in weakness and lose the 
grace and beauty of health. Yes, our health and 
strength and beauty are springs that will dry up. 

Another great fountain of joy and delight is hu- 
man friendship. God has given us wondrous 
power of comforting and making glad each other 
by kindly fellowship. And many a person who 
has not much strength or beauty, and has passed 
beyond the vigor and enthusiasm of youth, still 
counts himself firm in an impregnable fortress be- 
cause of the friendships that gird him about. And 
yet all friendships that are of this world alone are 
perishable springs. It is not only that we have to 
run the risk of the frailties of human nature and 
take the chance that some cruel misunderstanding 



THE DRIED-UP SPRINGS OF LIFE. 349 

shall separate us from the love of our friends ; but 
they, too, are subject to all the laws of weakness, 
and sorrow, and affliction, and death that threat- 
en, and many times within a single year a soul 
that looked upon strong friends like bulwarks on 
every side has seen them vanish away like mists 
before the morning sun, until they stood friendless 
and alone. Yes, friendship is a spring that will 
dry up if it has no higher source than earth. 

But, somebody says, you have left out one source 
of joy and pleasure — What of riches? Alas ! that, 
too, is a spring that will dry up. But you argue 
with me that money will purchase servants to care 
for you when you are weak ; it will minister to your 
taste, and give you power to surround yourself 
with many protections and shelters ; and all that 
is indeed true. But money can not keep alive in 
you the vigor and enthusiasm and power of enjoy- 
ment of youth. Wilberforce, in speaking of the 
Richmond villa, belonging to the Duke of Queens- 
bury, whose wealth was many millions of dollars, 
says that once on dining with the Duke in com- 
pany with a party of celebrated guests, altho 
the dinner was sumptuous, the views from the 
villa most enchanting, and the Thames was in all 
its glory, the Duke looked on with indifference. 
In reply to Wilberforce, who, then a young man, 
had made some appreciative remarks on the beauty 



350 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



of the scenery, the Duke protested almost angrily, 
" What is there to make so much of in the Thames? 
I am quite tired of it. There it goes — flow, flow, 
flow, always the same." All his wealth could not 
keep for that sensual old man the bright apprecia- 
tion of nature, and of beauty everywhere, which 
had been the natural inheritance of his youth. 
Money can not bribe disease to stay away, and it 
can, after all, do little to stay its ravages. Money 
can not keep our friends alive, it can not stay the 
coming of the white horse and its rider. It is 
proverbial that shrouds are without pockets, and 
Scriptural that we brought nothing with us into 
this world and we can take nothing out of it. 

Count them over, the great sources of joy and 
pleasure for the worldling: youth, health, money, 
friends. They are all there ; everything that the 
worldly man can know is grouped under some one 
of these four, and there is a limit to the reservoir 
which each of these springs draws upon, and they 
shall all dry up, and leave the soul that trusts to 
them naked and bare, bankrupt and hopeless at the 
last. 

Ah ! you say, it is a sad sermon you are preach- 
ing to us. I wish T had stayed at home. But I 
thank God you may give it a bright side if you 
will, for there are possible to the human soul 
springs that draw upon the higher watershed of 



THE DRIED-UP SPRINGS OF LIFE. 351 

the hills of God, whose streams flow on with ever- 
abounding fulness through youth and manhood 
and old age ; streams that are only sweetened by 
affliction and weakness, that can not be frozen up 
by poverty, nor scorched and dried out by any lack 
of human fellowship. Jesus said to the woman at 
the well of Sychar that she had been drinking of 
that well only to thirst again, but he was able to 
give her living water which should be within her 
soul a fountain springing up unto everlasting life. 
Paul, in the thirteenth chapter of his first letter to 
the Corinthians, said that there are some springs 
that abide, "But now," he says, "abideth faith, 
hope, love, these three; and the greatest of these 
is love." The Psalmist says, in a grateful tribute 
to God, " All my springs are in thee." I call you 
from the lowlands of worldliness, where all the 
springs of life shall dry up, up to the treasures of 
the highlands where there are streams of joy that 
shall flow forever. Frances Ridley Havergal sings : 

"Hear the Father's ancient promise ! 

Listen, thirsty, weary one ! 
I will pour ray Holy Spirit 

On thy chosen seed, O son. 
Promise to the Lord's anointed, 

Gift of God to him for thee ! 
Now, by covenant appointed, 

All thy springs in him shall be. 



352 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

"Springs of life in desert places 

Shall thy God unseal for thee ; 
Quickening and reviving graces, 

Dew-like, healing, sweet, and free. 
Springs of sweet refreshment flowing, 

When thy work is hard or long ; 
Courage, hope, and power bestowing, 

Lightening labor with a song. 

" Springs of peace, when conflict heightens, 

Thine uplifted eye shall see ; 
Peace that strengthens, calms, and brightens ; 

Peace itself a victory. 
Springs of comfort, strangely springing, 

Through the bitter wells of wo ; 
Founts of hidden gladness, bringing 

Joy that earth can ne'er bestow. 

"Thine, O Christian, is this treasure, 

To thy risen head assured ! 
Thine in full and gracious measure, 

Thine by covenant secured ! 
Now arise ! his word possessing, 

Claim the promise of the Lord ; 
Plead through Christ for showers of blessing, 

Till the Spirit be outpoured." 

Do you ask how to obtain these springs that 
shall never dry up? My answer is that the wom- 
an of Samaria obtained for the asking, not only 
for herself, but for many others who believed on 
Christ through her word. The same gracious 
terms are extended to you to-night. Christ is 



THE DRIED-UP SPRINGS OF LIFE. 353 



seeking after you with as great tenderness as he 
sought after her. When Moses held up the brazen 
serpent in the wilderness before the dying Israel- 
ites, whosoever looked upon it lived. And so to- 
day it is "look and live." It is Christ's own illus- 
tration. Let us not try to make hard what he has 
made easy. Do not let the simplicity of the Gos- 
pel keep you away from this great salvation, but 
rather thank God that he has made the path so 
easy that the youngest and the weakest may come. 
23 



PETER'S CONFIDENCE IN OLD AGE. 

"We did not follow cunningly devised fables. " — 2 Peter 

i. 16 {Revised Version). 

There is an exceedingly sweet flavor about this 
chapter. It is fragrant with thanksgiving to God 
arising from the heart of a saintly man, like per- 
fume from a vase of flowers. It is written by a 
man who is conscious that he is very near to the 
end of his earthly pilgrimage. There is a charm 
about such writing that is indescribable. In the 
presence of death all disguises are thrown off. 
There is a naturalness, a simplicity, about state- 
ments made at such a time that give them great 
effect. Peter is writing for the benefit of those 
who shall come after him, that their hearts may 
be established in the faith, that they may go on 
their way rejoicing in confidence, knowing that 
they are not following "cunningly devised fables." 

More than eighteen centuries have gone by since 
then, but the power of Jesus Christ to comfort the 
human heart and to rescue it from the bondage of 
sin is as effective as ever. All along the way 
there have been philosophies and religions that 
354 



PETERS CONFIDENCE IN OLD AGE. 355 



have sprung up for a time and have had their lit- 
tle day, and, like a hunter's camp-fire built of pine 
knots, have soon burned themselves out and left 
only a heap of ashes behind them. But Jesus of 
Nazareth is still the Day Star of human hope. 

In Christ alone is there a strength that abides 
through all the changing scenes of time. A trav- 
eler tells these two stories : There was a storm at 
sea during which a sailor on watch at night was 
swept overboard. There were two men on watch 
together, and it was the one least exposed that the 
wave, leaping over the bow, swept away. When 
the captain was asked how that could be he said : 
" Because the second man had nothing to hold on 
to." Many a storm shall sweep over the deck in 
the course of the voyage of life. Be sure you lay 
hold upon the one Hope that is as an anchor to the 
soul, sure and steadfast, and reaches to within the 
harbor. 

The other story is about climbing the Gorner- 
grat. The Swiss guide, seeing the traveler was 
exhausted, said: "Sit down, and rest upon this 
rock." It was a hard, jagged thing, and he asked : 
"Why not rest on the snow?" The guide an- 
swered : " Because I know the rock will not slip 
with us; it is anchored underneath." In climbing 
the mountain steeps of human life there are many 
slippery places where a false step may start an 



356 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



avalanche that will sweep you over the precipice or 
into the deadly crevasse below. Be sure you plant 
your feet on the Rock of Ages ! 

There ought to be in our theme great comfort 
and encouragement to every one who has been de- 
laying his return to God and putting off his ac- 
ceptance of Christ because he fears his own nature 
may be so uncertain and unreliable that he will 
not hold out in his attempt to lead the new life. 
Peter was just that kind of a man — a man with 
many good impulses, but a man who, after three 
years of close association with Jesus Christ, de- 
serted him in the hour of his greatest trial. But 
instead of throwing him away because he had 
failed, and casting him out on the waste-heap, 
Christ kept his hold on Peter and by patience and 
sympathetic care and love made him the Peter 
who was like adamant in his rugged fidelity. 

Mrs. Maud Ballington Booth says that in a cer- 
tain city she saw something that was a wonderful 
advertisement and a wonderful lesson. There was 
a great fire, a tremendous blaze ; an entire block of 
buildings worth a million dollars was entirely de- 
stroyed; all was one mass of charred ruins and 
only one thing was standing — a great brick wall. 
And on this wall was written, where everybody 
could see it : " This is a wall built of fire-proof 
bricks 1" with the name of the brick-makers be- 



PETER'S CONFIDENCE IN OLD AGE. 357 

low. Everything else had gone, but that wall had 
stood. Some of the buildings were constructed of 
stone and marble, and made a very imposing ap- 
pearance, but the fire brought them down in three 
hours. Jesus Christ is able to build a character 
that will stand. The fire of persecution or trial 
may rage about it, but if it has been humbly and 
lovingly entrusted to the building and keeping of 
the divine Christ, it shall stand the test and come 
out of the fire stronger than ever. 

Paul, in speaking of the mighty struggles and 
conflicts which come to us all in the course of our 
lives, says that we should have on the whole armor 
of God, "Withal," he says, "taking up the shield 
of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all 
the fiery darts of the evil one." 

Mr. W. J. Leonard, a Brooklyn carpenter, has 
invented a bullet-stopping shield. The material 
is a combination of cotton, wood, wool, and felt, 
treated chemically. There are three plates of the 
composition in the shield at a little distance apart 
from each other. At a trial of it a short time 
ago, in the presence of friends and newspaper re- 
porters, the inventor removed all doubt as to the 
truth of his assertions by putting on one of the 
plates and allowing himself to be shot at. After 
the trial it was seen that the bullet had penetrated 
the shield about three quarters of an inch. The 



358 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS, 



inventor said that the shot felt as if some one had 
poked him lightly with a stick, but the bullet fired 
into the shield was mashed flat and almost torn to 
pieces. So it is with the shield of faith. The 
missiles of the enemy are themselves destroyed, but 
he who wears that shield walks in safety. 

Frederick the Great, of Prussia, when he was 
in the height of his prosperity, built a beautiful 
cottage where he could retire from the cares of 
state, and find perfect relief from all the troubles 
that beset an emperor. This dainty little cottage- 
palace was surrounded by beautiful gardens and 
was as near an earthly paradise as money and 
taste could make it. Over the door the monarch 
had written in gold letters, "Sans Souci" — 
" Without care." There he was determined to get 
away from all annoyances. But he was doomed to 
disappointment. Frederick found, like many an- 
other man, both on the throne and off it, that it 
is impossible to fence out the troubles of life by 
any earthly wall. Once when the same monarch 
was traveling he sent forward word to a worthy 
clergyman whom he knew that he would stop with 
him. The house was made ready, the royal party 
arrived and were entertained, and when they left 
the emperor made a handsome present of money 
to the clergyman. On coming back the emperor 
stopped again at the same place, and on leaving he 



PETERS CONFIDENCE IN OLD AGE. 359 

said to his friend, the Christian minister, " Now, 
is there anything I can do for you, any place in 
the church I can give you, any way that I can 
make you happier?" "No, your Majesty," was 
the answer, " I want nothing. I am content with 
my position." The monarch was astonished. An 
humble minister of the Gospel, and wanting no 
preferment? He could not understand it. "What," 
he cried, "contented?" "Yes, your Majesty." "Is 
it possible that you want nothing that I can give 
you?" "It is possible, your Majesty. I am happy 
and contented." "Then," replied the astonished 
monarch, "over your door must be written, 'My 
kingdom is not of this world. ' " 

The emperor had written "without care," over 
his own door, but the cares had come thick and fast 
in spite of it. There is only One who can give abi- 
ding peace and rest, and it is he who appeals to you 
to-night, saying : " Come unto me all ye that labor, 
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." 

Peter's experience shows us that a Christian life 
is one full of thrilling interest and one that is con- 
stantly enriched as it goes on. Every life that de- 
pends upon the world for its sustenance grows less 
and less interesting, and finally loses all; but he 
who puts his trust in Jesus Christ finds that the 
interest of life deepens and its treasures increase 
in value as the years multiply. 



360 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

Sad illustrations are constantly coming to our 
notice which prove that those who trust in sensual 
delights and worldly pleasures are ever and anon 
coming upon fearful bankruptcy and disaster. 
The New York papers last June related the story 
of a young man who had once possessed a com- 
fortable property and lost it by unfortunate invest- 
ments, thus finding himself at the age of thirty- 
four without money or employment. He woke his 
wife in the early morning with a kiss, then shot at 
her, but fortunately failed to kill her. Supposing, 
however, that he had, he put his pistol to his own 
head and destroyed his life. He left this letter as 
an explanation of his course : 

"New York, June 12, 1895. 
" To the Coroner : Being unable to bear life's 
miseries any longer, so determined to end my life. 
Take my dear beloved companion with me. Colo- 
nel Ingersoll is right in his views and lectures, 
and as to my opinion, the most sensible man of 
the century." Etc., etc. 

How different the future of this young man and 
his wife might have been if he had taken Jesus 
Christ for his counselor instead of the infidel. 

One of the most pathetic incidents related in all 
literature is Comte de Brienne's account of the last 
days of the great statesman, Mazarin. He was a 



PETER'S CONFIDENCE IN OLD AGE. 361 

great lover of art and had expended a fortune in 
gathering together the most beautiful works of 
the great masters. But he had neglected to come 
into such fellowship with the King in his beauty 
as to make the approach of eternity a source of 
joyous anticipation to him. The poor old man 
clung to his beautiful pictures with a bitter grief 
that was full of pathos. The historian says that 
he was walking one day in the great man's palace, 
when he recognized the approach of Mazarin by 
the sound of his slippered feet, which he dragged, 
one after another, as a man enfeebled by a mortal 
malady. The young man hid himself behind a 
piece of tapestry, and heard him say, "I must 
leave all that !" He stopped at every step, for he 
was very feeble, and, casting his eyes on each ob- 
ject that attracted him, he sighed forth as from 
the bottom of his heart : " I must leave all that !" 
Could there be a more thrilling and terrible illus- 
tration of the awful folly of setting one's heart 
upon the things of the earth, even tho they be 
the most beautiful and refined that the world can 
afford, than the ghastly spectacle of this solitary, 
withered, gray -haired, slippered old statesman, 
tottering along, soliloquizing (unaware of the ears 
behind the tapestry), pausing now before a Ca- 
racci, and now before a Correggio, and again be- 
fore a Titian, and muttering, unconscious that any 



362 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 

one heard him : " I must leave all that ! I must 
leave all that!" 

Thank God ! there is something better than that 
for humanity. How different is the picture of 
Peter which is suggested to us in this chapter! 
He comes to the end of life growing constantly in 
knowledge of the purposes of God, rich in memory 
of the past, happy in appreciation of the present, 
and pressing on with courageous heart toward 
glories yet to be revealed. 

A gentleman who spent last summer up north of 
Lake Superior, saw an old Norway pine blown 
down in a great storm. He made an examination 
of it and found it to be two hundred and fifty 
years old. Stripping up a bit of the bark, he dis- 
covered that the old tree was, the day it fell, still 
growing. A Christian life is like that. It grows 
on and on and on. Death stopped the growth of 
the old Norway pine, but even death itself can not 
stop the growth of the child of God. 

What a splendid source of courage are these 
words of Peter in the face of the encroachments of 
age and the drawing near of the time of our own 
departure from earth. "At evening time it shall 
be light " to the man who walks in fellowship with 
Jesus Christ. One of the most fascinating char- 
acters which " Ian Maclaren" sketches for us, in his 
annals of the Scotch saints, is the portrait of Wil- 



PETERS CONFIDENCE IN OLD AGE. 363 



liam MacClure, a Christian physician, whose life 
was one constant sacrifice offered up cheerfully 
and patiently for the good of his fellows. When 
the good doctor's time came to go, his old friend 
Drumsheugh held him by the hand. As the 
friend watched, a change came over the face on 
the pillow beside him. The lines of weariness dis- 
appeared, as if God's hand had passed over it; 
and peace began to gather round the closed eyes. 
The doctor's mind had been wandering, and a lit- 
tle before he had imagined himself out in the 
storm, struggling through the snowdrifts, to get 
to the bedside of his patient. But now he has 
forgotten the toil of later years, and has gone 
back to his boyhood ; 

'"The Lord's my shepherd, I'll not want. "' 

he repeated, till he came to the last verse, and then 
he hesitated : 

"'Goodness and mercy all my life, 
Shall surely follow me. ' 

Follow me — and — and — what's next? Mother said 
I was to have it ready when she came. 'I'll come 
before you go to sleep, Willie, but ye'll no get 
your kiss unless ye can finish the Psalm.' 'And 
— in God's house — forevermore my' — how does 
it run? I can not mind the next word, 'my,' — 



364 THE FISHERMAN AND HIS FRIENDS. 



it's over-dark now to read it, and mother'll soon 
be coming." 

Drumsheugh, in an agony, whispered in his 
ear: " 'My dwelling-place,' William." 

''That's it, that's it, I know; who said it?" — 

"'And in God's house forevermore 
My dwelling-place shall be. "' 

The good old man whose work was done, and 
well done, then stretched himself with a sigh of 
relief, as he murmured : 

"I'm ready now, and I'll get my kiss when 
mother comes. I wish she would come, for I am 
tired and wanting to sleep. Yon's her step, and 
she's carrying a light in her hand ; I see it through 
the door. Mother, I knew ye would not forget 
your laddie, for ye promised to come, and I have 
finished my Psalm — 

"'And in God's house forevermore 
My dwelling-place shall be. ' 

Give me the kiss, mother, for I've been waiting 
for ye, and I'll soon be asleep." 

The gray morning light fell on Drumsheugh 
still holding his friend's cold hand and staring at 
a hearth where the fire had died down into white 
ashes; but the peace on the doctor's face was of 
one who rested from his labors. 



PETER'S CONFIDENCE IN • OLD AGE. 365 

That's the way a Christian can die. I call you 
to this sublime faith in Jesus Christ, which 
brightens youth, adorns middle life, glorifies old 
age, and takes the sting out of death. He who 
trusts Christ may sing with the poet, in all confi- 
fidence : 

" Homeward the swift-winged sea-gull takes its flight ; 

The ebbing tide breaks softly on the sand ; 
The sunlit boats draw shoreward for the night ; 

The shadows deepen over sea and land ; 
Be still, my soul, thine hour shall also come ; 
Behold, one evening God shall lead thee home." 



THE END. 



